Twin Trios
by Bright Yellow Angel Halo
Summary: When Lord Voldemort met his downfall on Halloween, 1981, Dumbledore declared Percy Potter the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry, only loved by his mother, was forced down into the shadows. Until he went to Hogwarts and got sorted into Slytherin. HP/? WBWL
1. Prologue

**Hello there readers! This is my first Harry Potter fic, so try not to be too rude. If you don't like it then just don't review. Yes, I know that this idea is very clich****é****, but I really like it, so I had to write my own.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.k. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**If anyone would be interested in beta-ing this story, that would be great. I don't think my grammar is that good. Please let me know. Once I get a Beta, if I do, I will go through the chapters with them re-post them with better grammar.**

Twins Trios

Prologue

It was Halloween eve when it started. At Godric's Hollow, a small town, events started to happen that would affect the entire world. Nobody was prepared for it. A mistake was about to be made that could never be fixed.

James and Lily Potter were both 21 years of age. Lily had flowing red hair, along with her piecing green eyes that intimidated so many people. James on the other hand, had brown eyes, along with jet black hair that could never be neat. They had two sons that were loved, Harry and Percy Potter. They were both loved equally, until that fateful night on All Hallows Eve.

A man in a dark cloak swept along the sidewalk in Godric Hallow. All the muggles stayed clear of him unconsciously, not knowing what they were scared of. Many called him the Dark Lord, while a lot of other people called him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. There was only one person in the world that called him by his proper name. Albus Dumbledore, the greatest light wizard alive, called him Voldemort. Voldemort was in a good mood tonight. The plan was ready, nothing could go wrong. He had made sure of that. His Death Eaters were all spread out for different attacks. That should scatter the Order of the Phoenix. Then he would strike. By the time the Order arrived, he would be long gone, and two thirds of the prophecy dead. The Dark Lord reached his destination.

He paused for a moment, observing the house that he should not be able to see. It was a white, two storey house. The owner obviously enjoyed gardening because there was lots of Lily's in the front yard. Just for good measure, a jet of green light burst out of his wand, killing one of them. He wished he could do that to the real person Lily Potter, but he couldn't have her sacrificing her life for her sons. Nothing he cast would work then. With any more hesitation, he stepped onto the lawn.

!#$%^&*

James Potter sat at a table in Professor Dumbledore's, no, _Albus's _office at Hogwarts. He was absent mindedly thinking about his favourite things: Quidditch, Lily, Trouble Making, and Lily. What team would win the Quiditch league this year? It sure wouldn't be the Chudey Cannons. He was wondering what he and Lily would do later. They were planning have another child; hopefully a girl so Lily wouldn't feel left out when Harry, Percy, and James go out to play Quiditch. James also was plotting some pranks that he is going to teach his kids to do. Hopefully they'll have an arch-rival like him and Snivellus.

A white badger appeared in the office. "Dumbledore!" said the voice of Amos Diggory. "The ministry has gotten a tip that multiple places are being attacked! Hogsmeade, as well as the muggle cities of Bristol, Plymouth and Bradford!"

Dumbledore immediately jumped into action, while everybody else started to panic. Sirius had gone very pale and started to mutter under his breath. Remus had a look on his face that someone would think the full moon came early. Lily looked thoughtful, wondering what the point of this attack was. The rest of the order, mostly new recruits, started screaming their heads off. When Dumbledore couldn't be heard, he signaled for silence, creating a big bang from his wand.

"James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Alastor, go and protect Hogsmeade. Frank, Alice, Marlene, Emmeline, , go to Bristol. Nejy, Edgar, Elphias, Surgis, he have Plymouth. Gideon, Fabian, Dorcas and I will go and try to dispel them from Bradford." Everyone went scrambling, trying to organize themselves to follow orders. Briefly, Dumbledore wondered where this attack came from. They didn't have any warning beforehand. That thought quickly left his mind. That's not important right now. Right now they have to go protect the people.

The first people to leave were the group that was going to Hogmeade. As they were leaving, they could hear the other people flooing to a wizarding home near their destination. The group burst into a run. With the knowledge of James, Sirius and Remus, they got out of the castle in 5 minutes. As they got closer to Hogsmeade, they could hear the screams of the residents and laughs of the Death Eaters.

James ran on to the scene. Without wasting anytime, he started casting spells. "Stupefy, Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Stupefy, Stupefy!" As he fought, James noticed that there was no inner circle present.

James heard someone cream.

"James"," called out Sirius. "Fire!"

When James looked up, all he could see was orange and red. Then he noticed that he was really hot.

"Aguamenti, Aguamenti, AGUAMENTI!"

James finally managed to dampen the fire enough so that he could get out. As he looked up, he saw a jet of white light going towards him. James went flying into a tree. Then he blacked out.

!#$%^&* - **Meanwhile**

Voldemort blasted the door of its hinges with ease. He entered the house, and was met by Wormtail, who was instantly told to get out. Then took another look around. Voldemort scowled. This place was so neat. It also had a lot of muggle appliances. Memories from the orphanage started to show up, especially that one where he burned himself on the stove.

Voldemort headed upstairs, listening to the breathing of the two infants he was here to kill. Hmmm, he thought to himself, I must really reward Wormtail the night is over. Voldemort reached the top of the stairs. As Voldemort looked around once again, he saw a white door that was bordered with loins. Typical Gryffindor.

One of the babies started crying upon Voldemort's entry. Voldemort looked at it in disgust, and was about to kill it when something caught his eye. The other baby. It was silent. That baby had respect showing in his eye, but also something else. That baby had fear. Voldemort was stunned for a moment. A mere fifteen month old baby was trying to defy him. He respected that. Voldemort felt around for magical power. The crying baby was normal, while the quiet one had even more powerful then Dumbledore, possibly even him! Knowing that this would be the baby in the prophecy, the threat, he cried out those two unforgivable words.

"Avada Kedavra"

A jet of green light burst out of his wand. It was nothing new for Lord Voldemort. Then why did he have a sense of forbidding?

As the light approached the baby, a silver bubble appeared around his head. For a moment, Voldemort was concerned, by waved that away when the spell went right through the shield. But then Voldemort watched with growing dread as it did not strike and kill the baby like it was supposed to. The spell hit him and bounced right back, leaving a lightning bolt shaped scar where it hit. Voldemort desperately tried to dodge, but for the first time in his life, he was too slow. The spell hit Lord Voldemort in the shoulder, ripping him from his body, but not dying, thanks to his anchors. All around England, wizards felt their left arm burn, and then their Dark Mark faded so much you almost couldn't see it.

The explosion rocked the house. The roof in the nursery started to collapse. Chucks of rock rained down on the babies. Only once did one of them get hit. Percy Potter got caught in the right cheek, creating a scar in the shape of a crescent moon. At last, the entire roof caves in, somehow avoiding the two babies.

Far away, all the attacks seized the moment the Death Eaters felt their mark fade. No one was aware of the event that had just transpired.

!#$%^&*

The Order of the Phoenix sat around the table at Hogwarts, talking about the night.

"Why did all the attacks seize, Albus?" asked Fabian Prewett. "They were almost at the same time too. That can't be a coincidence. You-Know-Who probably planned this to make us fear the worst. Albus, there were 482 muggles were slaughtered in each village! This war is never going to end! Even if it does, then we will most likely not be the winners!"

Fabian started to walk towards the door. Just before he got there, it was blasted open. Severus Snape, spy for the Order, appeared panting and was very pale. He stood there for a few seconds, and then sat down.

He mumbled something that no one could make out.

"Speak up, Severus," said Albus.

Snape looked up and uttered two words. "He's gone"

For a few seconds, the order stared at the spy, then whispers broke out all over the room.

"Silence," roared Albus. "Severus, how is it that you know this?"

Snape unrolled his left arm. Every gasped. They could barely see the Dark Mark that they knew was there, branded on Snape. In fact, it was so faded that they couldn't see it unless you were looking for it.

"Albus, how did this happen?" asked Lily Potter. Her piercing green eyes looking across the room, locking onto Dumbledore. Unlike her husband, she had no trouble calling their former Headmaster by his first name.

"I do not know," he said slowly. "It could have been anything. For all we know, Voldemort could've had a potions accident, any type of accident for that matter. If you learn anything, contact the rest of us via Patronus." The headmaster stopped, thinking about what they should do. He continued a moment later. "Let's call it a night for now. Warm beds a wait, along with possible peace!"

The Order meeting quickly broke up after that. No one even noticed that Peter Pettigrew was missing. He hadn't even come to the meeting. James and Lily bid good night to the rest of the order and left the office.

"What do you think of Snivellus's-I mean Severus's announcement Lily flower?" he changed the name quickly seeing his wife's look.

Lily sighed, but not before giving him another glare. "I don't know James. It just sounds too good to be true. Let's go."

They reached the gates, and disapparated with a pop.

James continued the conversation after they both reached their destination.

"So, do you think it's true?" he pressed. "What's wrong Lily?"

Lily had stopped dead in her tracks, staring palely ahead, where the house is. James followed her gaze, and quickly paled just as much as her. They stared at their house… Or what was left of their house. The house that James had grown up in was demolished. The roof had clearly collapsed, taking the old foundation with it.

"The… The prophecy! Lily, go and make sure that Percy and Harry are all right. I'll send a message to Dumbledore and the Order."

Lily ran straight into the ruined house, vaguely hearing James say Expecto Patronum. She entered the ruins of the old Potter house, looking for the nursery. Finally, she found Harry and Percy in the center of a circle that didn't have any rumble in it. Percy was lying on top of Harry, who was unconscious.

"James, James, JAMES!" Lily cried in hysteria as multiple pops signified the arrival of the order. "THE BABIES ARE STILL ALIVE!" Every one heard her and rushed to the scene. Dumbledore pushed his way to the front, then bent down to examine the twins.

"Oh my," he murmured quietly to himself as he spotted the scar on Percy's cheek, and a Dark cloak lying on the ground a few feet away. Dumbledore walked over and looked at it. It was Voldemorts, reeking of dark magic. "It appears," Dumbledore continued slowly. "That little Percy here has done the impossible. He has survived the killing curse."

A gasp of astonishment and disbelief went up in the order. "Not only that he managed to reflect the curse, and hit Voldemort. Tonight's attacks were probably planned to distract us. But Percy, somehow, managed to stop Voldemort (everyone flinched at the name) for us! He is, the Boy-Who-Lived"

!#$%^&*

_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-Defeated_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_It has leaked out that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name met his downfall last night. How? Well, isn't that the interesting part. He was defeated by none other than Percy Potter, son of famous aurors Lily and James Potter. According to Albus Dumbledore, "Percy Potter not only defeated *censored for our readers*, but also survived the killing curse, which is unheard of!"_

_Thank our lucky stars for Percy Potter folks. We were slowly losing ground to You-Know-Who in the war, but thanks to this 15 month infant, we're hoping for more generations of peace. To Percy Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived!_

The rest of the article and paper went on and on about the Potters and Percy. Not one did it mention the Potter twin. Not once did they think about him. For that day on, Harry Potter became the forgotten child.

(1)-Names from when Moody shows Harry the photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix in the Order of the Phoenix, Page 158.

**Thank you for giving me a chance! If you have a nice/positive comment and want to tell me, then review. If you want to flame me and tell me how much I suck at writing and how this is so clich****é****, then just keep it to yourself. Don't forget if you want to Beta!**


	2. Growing Up

**Hello there! If you're reading this, I hoped you liked the Prologue. I'd like to thank everyone that either reviewed, story-alerted, and who put this story in their favourites. Are you wondering why the story's called Twin Trios? You'll be able to figure it out in this chapter if you look close enough. I apologies if there are still some mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.k. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my new Beta, HP Slash Luv.**

Twin Trios

Chapter 1

_Boy-Who-Lived's Birthday Approaches_

_By Rita Skeeter, Official Potter Reporter_

_Our savior's birthday approaches this Saturday. Percy Potter, best known for his defeat of You-Know-Who, will be celebrating his fifth birthday. He is having a public birthday party at 1, before he moves onto the more private events later that evening. The wizarding public is encouraged to attend, to show our hero that we remember him._

Harry James Potter, twin brother of the boy-who-lived, threw down the paper in disgust. He shouldn't be able to read that well at age four, almost five. However, since he had a brother who was famous for something that he had done before he could walk and talk, he was forced to lock himself in his room. Everything was always about Percy. All he did while in his room was read, read, read. That's why Harry has read every single magical theory book he could find. He had tried to do some magic, as he knew he had already done some accidental magic, but couldn't. He was too young. Was it fair that he was forced to do that? No. Was it fair that he had been forgotten for the favor of the wizarding world's savior? Not really. But he had learned to live with it. He had to.

"James, bring Percy inside," he heard his mother, Lily Potter call outside. "It's time for lunch."

Harry went into the kitchen without being called. Just as he entered, he saw the house elf Floppy disappearing with a loud _crack._ He did not even flinch. His mother enjoys cooking a lot, but his father didn't think it was right to have a witch in the Potter family cook like a common muggle. So they compromised. Lily could cook to her heart's desire, as long as Floppy the house elf helped her. One day, Harry had sneaked in on them. His mother had been cooking while Floppy was reading some sort of magazine. That was a weird sight.

James came into the house, Percy riding on his back. "What's for lunch Lily Flower?"

"I didn't feel like making you a feast," she answered, sort of playfully. "Just peanut butter sandwiches."

"Is there any extra?" James asked. "Sirius is coming-"

He was cut off as the fire place roared to life, the flames turning green. Harry thought his father should have really mentioned that earlier.

"JAMES POTTER!" yelled a very angry Lily Potter. Sirius Black appeared out of the flame, shaking soot of, just like a dog.

"Uncle Siri!" called out a little voice. Percy Potter jumped off his father's back and ran to his honorary uncle. After the betrayal by Peter Pettigrew, those who had known Sirius before would say that he had changed. His eyes still had the mischievous twinkle to them, but they also held shadows, shadows that tell you that he had seen things.

All thought of anger from Lily disappeared at the adorable sight of Percy hugging his uncle. If Harry didn't know that his brother had the intelligence level of a stick, he would have thought that it was set up.

"Happy Birthday kiddo," Uncle Sirius told him. James sent him and his son an appreciative look. Unfortunately Lily caught the look, and remembered that she was angry. The next fifteen minutes was spent yelling at James about how he should be more organized and should communicate with her more. It also turned out that she did not how extra sandwiches. Harry counted them all. There was enough for everyone but him and another person. His father, uncle, and brother started to pig out like it was all you could eat.

Lily turned to Harry. "Harry dear, our lunch is in the kitchen." With that, his mother walked out of the dining room and into the kitchen. Harry had always thought that maybe his mother was slyer then everyone thought.

Harry entered the kitchen, right behind his mother. Harry looked at the kitchen table, licking his lips in anticipation. On the table were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Way better than just plain peanut butter, not that that's not good of course.

"I figured that your father would be having Sirius over without telling me, so I made enough for them and Sirius, and left ours in the kitchen," said his mother from behind. Harry was happy. He didn't think people paid that much attention to him.

!#$%^&*

**2 Years Later**

Harry was now 7 years old. His birthday had come and gone (along with Percy's annual party) and Harry was happy. After the incident two years ago, Harry and his mother Lily had gotten a lot closer.

"Hey Harry," called his mother. "How are you today?"

Harry looked at her and answered her how he answered her every day. "The same as yesterday."

His mother laughed her high-pitched, beautiful laugh that made father melt, offering her anything she needed. "Harry," she said a little more serious. "I think you're an intelligent boy."

Harry laughed, cutting her off. "You're my mom. You're bias."

His mother laughed again. "That may be true. However, I think you're smart enough to start learning some things about magic. Purebloods would normally learn this stuff as soon as they could talk, but since you're a half-blood, I thought that you should start a bit later."

Harry looked at her. "You… You mean lessons? For me? But I'm not good for anything. Dad told me so."

Mother laughed again. "You're father can be rather blind at times. Ever since we learned that Percy had survived the killing curse, all he's done is talk about him. I'm not so blind though. You're both our children; so therefore, you both should be treated equally. However, since James and… some other people—"

"You mean the whole wizarding world," Harry interrupted.

"Okay… Yes, the whole wizarding world can only see Percy Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and not Percy Potter, the child. But never mind that Harry. I want to teach you things, so that you aren't accused of riding on your brother's shoulder at Hogwarts."

"Fine," Harry replied. He looked up at his mother, and met her green eyes, identical to his. Then he broke out in a smile. "Well, what do you think I do up in my room? Sleep all day. No, I read books."

For the next hour, Harry and Lily went over some basic spells with the training wand that Lily stole-borrowed from his father. His mother was very impressed at all of the magical theory and wand techniques that he knew from his reading.

"That's just not possible!" cried his mother. He internally thought it was funny that she was so skeptical. Both her and father are powerful, so why shouldn't he be even more powerful than them both. It also helped that he was the magical heir of the Potter family.

"Wow." Harry's mother sat back in amazement. She had learned that… her son was very advanced for his age when it came to magic. He had been bored frequently and taught himself to read while she was still under that… evil piece of magic. She could only wish that it had been her that had taught him how to put the letters together to form words.

James and Percy ran into the room, as if they were escaping something, but stopped dead when they saw Harry on his mother's lap. Before James could make a comment, the fire turned green, interrupting the moment. Albus Dumbledore stepped out of it a moment later, quickly brushing the soot off his cloak and beard.

"Hello James, Lily. How is young Percy today?" Dumbledore spoke as if Harry wasn't in the same room. "I think that Percy is old enough to start practicing magic today. If he's going to be able to defeated Voldemort, then we better start early."

Lily remained quiet, while James nodded his head. "Of course he's ready. He did defeat You-Know-Who, after all." At those words, Percy puffed out his chest. Percy really wasn't that smart, even for his age, but he could tell when someone is giving him a complement.

Harry thought about that for a while. Dumbledore had come to give lessons the Percy, not him. Percy was the special one in the family. Maybe he could have lessons along with Percy, to become even better at magic then he already was.

"Mr. Dumbledore sir," Harry said timidly, acting like Percy. "Would it be okay if I came to lessons too? It would be good if I could defend myself because if Vol… Vol… You-Know-Who ever comes back; our family would be on the top of his hit list.

Dumbledore looked like he might consider it, and for a moment Harry felt a satisfying pit of victory starting to form in his stomach, but it was quickly squashed by his father.

"Of course you cannot boy!" He all but shouted. "Percy needs Professor Dumbledore's full attention, and you would only hinder it. Percy is going to be the one that You-Know-Who will come after, not you. It's going to be Percy that will have to kill You-Know-Who, not you. I've told you loads of times and will tell you again that you are useless and that you don't belong on the same level as Percy. You should just be thankful that we give you something to eat and a roof over your head."

James finished his rant. Harry could tell that he could've gone on longer but was starting to run out of breath. Then the words James had said registered in his mind, flooding his eyes with tears. Harry ran quickly out of the room, and the occupants could hear the door leading outside slam shut behind him. James looked horrified that he had just said that, even though he had meant every word.

"Well," Dumbledore said. "I'll leave now to let you solve your family issue. I'll be back tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon to start basic magical theory. I will have to pull some strings with some people to get Percy a practice wand, but it shouldn't be a big problem. Farewell." With a swish of his cloak, Dumbledore disappeared into the fireplace. With a flash of green light, Duumbledore was gone.

"JAMES POTTER," yelled a very angry Lily Potter. "YOU ARE SO SLEEPING ON THE COUCH!"

"Mommy," Percy said in an effort to distract his very angry mother from his father. "Have I shown you my new move on a broom? I go spino." Hearing what new, most likely dangerous move her other son could do on a broom was not what Lily Potter needed to hear.

"THAT'S IT!" she screamed, "EVERYBODY OUTSIDE". Without another word, James and Percy fled from the house, an angry witch not far behind them. Harry looked up from where he was sitting. His family skidded to a halt in front of him, his mother's eyes not quite glowing green like they got when she was angry. Percy tripped at the last second, nearly falling on a garden snake.

James looked and started to laugh. "Look at that Perce; you're crushing snakes even when you're young. With the right training, You-Know-Who shouldn't be a problem. After all, he's just a bigger snake." Harry rolled his eyes at the comment. Had it never occurred to his father that Percy might (and in Harry's opinion, most likely) get crushed by Voldemort? Obviously it had not. Harry was about to make a comment when he heard a voice.

$_ Stupid human. He should watch where he's going. Great. Now the bigger one is laughing at me. Maybe I should teach him a lesson. $_

The snake started to rear back, like it was going to strike Percy, or perhaps father. Father had now stopped laughing and was looking at the snake in fear. Harry also noticed that his mother's eyes also widened in fear a little. He had to stop the snake, but it was really cute in his opinion. He couldn't kill it.

$ _Stop _$ he cried, not really expecting it to work. After all, the only people that could talk to snakes would be parselmouthes. That's why he was very surprised and slightly scared when the snake stopped and turned his head at Harry.

$ _You speak it? You speak the ancient and noble tongue of snakes?_ $ The snake asked.

$ _I guess I do. I didn't know before today. _$Harry replied to the snake.

$ _Please don't hurt me, speaker sir. _$ The snake begged. $ _I will to anything to your satisfaction._ $

Harry studied the snake a little. It was green and had green eyes. He came to his decision.

$ _I'll tell you what. _$ Harry hissed. $_You go to my room. It's the one on the corner. It doesn't have a window, so you must get in some other way. There, I will talk to you. I have great plans for you._ $

As the snake slithered away, Harry turned back to his family and looked at the reactions. They were very mixed. Percy was looking at him with a mixture confusion, jealousy and admiration. 'Well', Harry thought, 'he obviously doesn't know what just happened'. All three of those emotions would soon go away when he talked to father. They will then be replaced by hatred. Father was looking like he had just learned that Percy had been swallowed by a whale; beyond angry. Mother, also appeared angry in her body language and face, but Harry, knowing his mother so well and could see that she wasn't truly angry, and that she was even a little pleased. There was one thing that surprised him the most. He could see that she was not surprised at all. 'Why is my own mother not surprised that I can speak parseltongue, when it's the language of the Dark Arts?' Harry thought.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER," his father screamed. "GET TO YOUR ROOM NOW! YOU ARE NOT TO HAVE ANY FOOD FOR THREE DAYS."

Harry headed back to his little 5 by 5 bedroom. After a few minutes, Harry could hear one of his parents coming upstairs to lock the door. Instead of just locking the door, it opened, revealing his mother. She was carrying a letter. He looked at her.

"Harry dear, I'm going to leave you this note. You cannot open it yet. You will be able to open it on your eleventh birthday. I'm so proud."

Harry had no clue what to make of it. His mother was proud he could speak to snakes? What was wrong in the world? She was in Gryffindor for Merlin's sake, and she wasn't worried that her son could speak the language of Slytherin? While he was thinking about that, his mother left the room, locking the door behind her, leaving no room for questions.

Harry sat for a few hours on his bed. He knew that the Potter's were descendants from Godric Gryffindor. Gryffindor was known for his battle with his former best friend, Salazar Slytherin, who could speak to snakes. So why could he speak the language of his blood line's enemy? As Harry pondered the question, he was interrupted by a hissing noise. As he looked up, a snake appeared from under the door way.

$ _Great speaker, I have done what you have asked. What will you do with me now? _$ The snake asked. Harry thought for a moment before answering.

$_ First, I have some questions for you. What's your name? Would you like to stay with me? Will you be my friend? _$ Harry rhymed off three questions. The snake blinked for a moment then answered.

$ _Great speaker, my name is Callidus_. _I would very much like to stay with you. It is not every day that a snake meets a speaker. Lastly, great speaker, I do not know what a friend is, so I cannot answer that question._ $ Callidus answered.

Harry blinked in surprised. $ _A friend is someone who you like and trust, out of your own free will. Nobody can force you to be a friend. I'll tell you what. Stick around here for a week, and let's see if we can become friends. On one condition though; you have to stop calling me great speaker, and call me Harry like a friend would. _$

$ _Yes _$ hissed Callidus. $ _Great... Harry, those terms are acceptable. Let's try_ $

So for the next week, Harry and Callidus hung around together. They had lots of together time, so much that when the week ended, they didn't even notice. By the time Harry remembered, it was a month later. He asked Callidus if he wanted to stay, even though it seemed a little pointless, when they had just been together for a month. Callidus said yes, and Harry and him became good friends.

!#$%^&*

**2 Years Later**

The last two years have gone by quickly for Harry. Callidus and Harry have been good for each other. Callidus allowed Harry to act more like a child, instead of the brother to the Boy-Who-Lived. Callidus was very thankful for the friendship. After all, it's good that such a powerful snake has friends, not just servants and allies.

Callidus wasn't sure of what type of snake he was. For as long as he could remember, he had been alone. Harry and Callidus had searched and searched the Potter's family library for an hour per day for every day in the last two years, and still couldn't find anything that matched Callidus. Until today.

$_Harry,_ $ called Callidus. $_It's my 5th birthday today._ $

Harry smiled at his only friend. $_Happy birthday Callidus. What would you like to do today?_ $

$_I'd like to go exploring in the forest$ _Callidus told Harry_._

The two friends headed outside, with Callidus hidden up Harry's sleeve. Callidus, Harry noticed, has never stopped growing. He's just getting bigger and bigger. When Callidus and Harry had met, Callidus was just a foot, while now he was almost three feet. Harry could feel the difference.

As Harry walked into the forest, Callidus slithered down his arm, onto the ground. The twosome walked deeper into the forest. Harry could see all the green trees, birds sitting on their branches. The flowers were beautiful, but since it was a magical forest, the more beautiful, the more deadly they were. He did notice that there was a plant that was the main ingredient in a calming potion. Harry didn't even bother to remember what it was called though.

$_Callidus, what do you think mum's doing right now?_ $ Harry asked. $_She seemed happy the other day. I almost feel like she knows more then she lets on, and that she's not as innocent. To dad, she can't do anything wrong, but if you take a step back and look, she appears really devious._ $

$_Really Harry? Your mum looks perfectly nice to me. I don't see how she acts weird._ $

Harry didn't answer, trailing off in thought. Lily Potter had always been nicer to Harry then she had been to Percy, even though he's the Boy-Who-Lived. Why was that? Sure, Harry was more like her in personality, but that doesn't change the fact that Percy is the one that defeated Voldemort. That's what any parent would dream about with their children, isn't it?

Harry was about to reply when a bright flash illuminated the forest. The bright light blinded Harry, but he could see that it was half white and half black. Harry could feel the magic head towards Callidus, than just disappear. Callidus was knocked unconscious.

"CALLIDUS," Harry cried out for his only friend. Not knowing what to do, Harry started to pet him, hoping that he would wake up soon. Time past, although how long, Harry didn't know. Harry looked on at his friend, hoping that he would wake. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Callidus showed some signs of stirring.

$_Callidus, wake up. You're the only friend I've got. Please don't die!_ $ Harry whispered, though it sounded like he had shouted. Callidus opened his eyes.

Harry noticed that something was different about Callidus. The first thing he could put his finger on was the eyes. Once, they were a brilliant green, not unlike Harry's. But now, they were a bright yellow. The second thing was that Callidus now carried himself with an air of great importance.

$_Harry,_ $ he cried, nearly hysterical. _$I know what kind of snake I am. Don't worry though; I can keep one of my eye lids over the eyes. No one will be able to notice them. Just don't send me away Harry, or hate me! Please, please!_ $

Harry was overwhelmed with all the requests. He had no idea what Callidus was talking about. Mentally, he started filing through the types of snakes that were green with yellows eyes, and never stopped growing (as far as Harry could tell). Harry couldn't find one.

$_Okay Callidus._ $ Callidus didn't seem to hear and kept talking fretfully. $_Callidus! SHUT UP! What type of snake are you?_ $

Callidus gave Harry one more fearful look and said: $_Baslisk_$

!#$%^&*

**Another Two Years later**

"Harry," called up Lily Potter. "Percy," she also called, not as enthusiastically, "The mail's here. There might be a certain letter that you boys will want to see."

Harry dropped the book that he was reading and raced downstairs, hoping that he could grab the letter and get out before the spoiled brat (also known as his brother) got there. Unfortunately, Percy was already there, along with their father. Harry quietly slipped in so no one noticed and grabbed the letter that every eleven year old wizard looked forward to getting.

_Dear Mr. H. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please look at and receive all of the items on the requirements sheet. The term begins September first, and we would like a reply no later than August 15._

_Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry Requirements for first year students_

_Uniform:_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)  
Please place a name tag one your clothing._

_Books:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk  
History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot  
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling  
A Begginers' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch  
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore  
Maical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger  
Fantastic Beats and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander  
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_Other Equipment:_

_1 Wand  
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl, cat, or toad_

_FIRST YEAR STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

"When are we going mum?" asked Percy. "Ray Weasley said that he was going the day they got their letters, and was hoping we could meet up. Please mum, dad? I haven't seen Ray in over five days!"

Harry bit back a laugh at his brother's whiny tone. It was very obvious that their mother has hated that tone for a long time, and using it is always a good way not to get what you want. It seems though, that his father knows this, as he quickly answered before mother could.

"Of course we can go today Prongslet. I'll call Sirius and Remus to see what they're doing today. We haven't been together to Diagon Alley in a long time."

James left the room, walking very fast, hoping to escape his wife's wrath. Harry caught his mother's annoyed glare before she put up her usual mask, the mask that made people think she was so harmless. After all, Lily Potter is only the muggleborn wife of James Potter, isn't she? That's what the world thinks. Even Harry's father thinks that. But Harry was the closest to her out of all of them, and he knew better.

"Great," said Lily. "We can all go and get you and Harry birthday presents. After all, it's both of your birthday's tomorrow, isn't it?"

Percy nodded, though not as enthusiastic this time. As far as the world was concerned, he was Percy Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the golden one. But to his mother, he was just Percy, her second favorite. Harry was her favorite, and she made no effort to hide it, since the whole world favored Percy. The rest of the world would be happy to forget about Harry and not give him any presents, but not Lily Potter. She always made sure to include Harry if he wanted to be included. Although that was not often, Percy still felt that since he was the one that defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, so he should be treated like a king. Was there anything wrong with that?

Ten minutes later, the Potter family was all gathered in the floo room, preparing to floo to Diagon Alley. Inside of Harry's sleeve was his very fateful companion, not pet, snake, whose name is Callidus. When Harry had found out that Callidus was a basilisk, he had been frightened and ecstatic at the same time. It was not very often that a basilisk chose to be someone's companion. The last known wizard-basilisk companionship was Salazar Slytherin.

Percy went first. James quickly stepped forward to join him.

"Come on dad!" complained Percy. "Aren't I old enough to go alone for two minutes? It doesn't look very good when a savior like me has to go everywhere with his dad. Aren't I old enough? Please?"

James looked as though he would cave in to his son for a moment, but his paranoid, protective dad side overruled it.

"No." he said firmly. "Not until you're older and can prove that you can fight someone until help arrives." He added as Percy opened his mouth to protest.

Percy left without another word, quickly followed by James. Soon, it was just Lily and Harry.

"Harry," she said. "There's something that I need to tell you. I love you, and I love Percy. But everything changed on that Halloween night."

"We all know what happened on Halloween night, mum." Harry told her. She looked at him with eyes that mirrored his perfectly. She narrowed them a little, and spoke some more.

"No, you don't. Harry, can you remember when you were younger. Around two years old to five years old?"

Harry thought about it. He did remember, in fact. His whole family had ignored him in favor for Percy, which is what forced him to start reading to pass the time. That's the reason he knew so much magical theory. He couldn't back then, but now he can do wandless magic. Until that one day before his first birthday, when his mother had invited him into the kitchen for cookies. He never thought it would have changed his life the way it did.

"Yes," he said, nodding slowly. "I do remember being ignored."

Lily flinched. "That wasn't my fault. I was under a charm that made me want to pay more attention to Percy then you. I did not recognize the charm, which is why it took me so long to shake it off. I'm an expert in charms, but it seems that the person who cast it had forgotten that."

Harry considered for a moment. He looked deep into his mothers eyes, wanting to know whether she was telling the truth or not. To his surprise, it was as though he was sucked into a vision.

_Flash Back_

_Harry saw his mother seating in the living room, reading the Daily Prophet. Harry could see that she was disgusted with whatever the paper was saying. As he got closer, he saw the headline and understood instantly._

'_Percy Potter: The Savior Has Been Sent' Harry turned away in disgust, just like his mother. Just then the door creaked open, causing Lily to look up and instantly put on what Harry calls 'The Mask'. In entered James and Dumbledore._

_Harry felt a surge of anger at Dumbledore. That was the man that had neglected him, never teaching him anything. He was pretty sure that was so he couldn't surpass Percy. It didn't matter though, since Harry had snuck into one of the lessons, and he could obviously see that he was far beyond perfect Percy._

"_Here she is, Albus." Harry heard his father say._

"_Yes perfect James. Thank you very much. I just want to talk to Lily in private."_

_James immediately left, closing the door softly behind him. Dumbledore turned his wand on Lily so fast that she couldn't react._

"_Curo"_

_A flash of blue light came out of his wand and struck Lily. Harry saw that her eye went out of focus. Dumbledore approached her._

"_I'm sorry Lily, but this is for the greater good. You are not to pay any attention to Harry, but give all your attention to Percy."_

_Harry could see that his mother was trying very hard to fight the spell, but couldn't manage to throw it off. Dumbledore, appearing satisfied, left the room._

_Flash Back Ends_

Harry came back to the present, as his mother gave out a strangled cry. As he made eye contact with her again, he could see that she had some sort of shield around her mind.

"Harry," she whispered. "Look at me."

Harry made eye contact again and suddenly found a sharp stab at his head. He grabbed his head.

"Amazing Harry," Lily told him. "I'll talk to you later about this. Let's go to Diagon alley before your brother and father start to wonder where we are. Oh, and you remember the memory that you saw?" Harry nodded. "The moral of that story is to never trust what Albus Dumbledore says, or does. He only thinks about the greater good, not the good of the people that serve him"

Without another word, Lily grabbed some floo powder and disappeared to Diagon alley. Harry quickly followed, though he wasn't very keen, since this meant his brother would be getting his photo taken, along with autographs. Harry knew that if he was ever famous, it would be for something that he did, and something that he remembered doing, not like his brother.

!#$%^&*

As Harry had predicted, his brother was surrounded by the media upon his arrival at the alley. He knew that tomorrow's Daily Prophet was going to have a double article, one about Percy getting his school supplies, and the other about Percy's birthday, just like they did each year.

Harry saw his mother motion to him to follow her out into the alley, while Percy and his father basked in the attention. That was fine with Harry. He quickly left, before anyone could make the connection with him and his brother, though he doubted it, since no one had before now.

"Where are we going first, mother?" Harry asked his mother in a gloomy tone. She smiled at him.

"We're going to Flourish and Blotts dear." She answered. Harry instantly brightened at the news that they were going to the book store.

"Mother," he said. "I've already read all these books on the list. I was wondering…" He hesitated a bit. "If… You could buy me Advanced Potion Making." Harry had been a little nervous about asking this question, because it would reveal just how far in potions he was.

Lily looked surprised, but not outraged as Harry had expected her to be. "Of course Harry. We'll get you what you need to learn. It wouldn't be good if the books that first years have to buy drag you down, would it?"

Harry and Lily finally reached the book store. Just before they entered, Harry looked back at his brother and his fans. As he expected he saw the Weasleys, all five of them. Percy, Fred, George, Ray and another girl that he didn't know. Percy looked at Percy with fascination, but still looked like he'd like to go buy his books. Fred and George both looked bored, but were whispering in hushed tones, like they were plotting something. Ray was with Percy, basking in the spotlight, enjoying the fame. Then girl, who must've been first Weasley girl in over six generations, was looking at Percy like a love struck fan girl. Then a movement caught Harry's eye.

The boy must've also been a Weasley. He was tall and thin, with a bunch of freckles, the Weasley trade mark. His clothes were visibly second handed, though they were noticeably worst then the rest of the family. Harry frowned. He had never seen this Weasley. He put the boy out of his mind and entered the book store.

As Harry entered, he saw many things, being the observant person he is. Harry saw that the witch at the counter was dragging her feet around, which probably meant that she still had to work another few hours. He saw a family of four, two parents and twin girls with bushy brown hair. The one looked really excited about the book store, while the other looked bored and wanted to get out of there. He also saw the reporter from the Daily Prophet, most likely hiding and waiting for Percy to come so he can ambush him with a photograph.

Lily and Harry headed towards the section labeled 'Hogwarts Books'. Harry quickly picked out the required books, along with a couple extra, like Advanced Potion Making, Charming the Opponent: How to use Charms in Battle and The Guide to Animagi. His mother raised an eyebrow at the last on, but didn't comment.

As they left the book store, Percy was just about to go in, along with all of his adoring fans. Harry had no clue why Percy enjoyed all the attention; all it did was hinder your shopping.

"Go ahead Harry," Lily said. "You know what Percy's about to do. Go to the Apothecary, and then I'll meet you at Ollivanders in an hour." Harry nodded his head in acknowledgment and quickly slipped away, just as he heard his brother say "Look, it's my mother." When he looked back he saw that his mother had put on The Mask and was surrounded by reporters.

Harry reached the Apothecary quickly, and quickly slipped inside. He approached the front counter.

"I have a potion ingredient I'd like to sell," he told the woman, whose back was turned.

"Okay, I'll be right with you." She called back. She turned around and saw Harry.

"Hello dear," she said. "Are you here for potions a Hogwarts cauldron? I'll be right with you once I deal with the person that said they had some ingredients."

"That would be me." Harry said coolly. The lady looked down in shock.

"It can't be you. You've got to be at Hogwarts still. Have you even started?" she asked.

"That is none of your concern. I've got basilisk venom, if that interests you. I could always go somewhere else."

The woman looked like she was going to have a heart attack. The little boy in front of her was claiming that he had basilisk venom. She decided to just play along with it, and then gently tell him he's mistaken. She'd only seen it once, and she was sure that she would recognize it.

"Well, let me see," she said as gently as she could. Harry glared at her and slowly reached into his pocket, withdrawing the venom. He watched as her face turned from shocked, to amazed, to curious.

"How… how… how did you get that!" she exclaimed, getting the attention of almost the whole shop.

"That's none of your business," Harry responded coolly. "This is the deal. You either give me 2500 galleons, no less, though you may raise the price if you'd like."

"Deal." Harry handed over the venom and in return she gave Harry 2500 galleons. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you." Harry noted with amusement that she was no longer treating him like a child.

As Harry walked away, heading for the door, he was stopped by a man. He had a long black cape-like robe, along with a hooked nose and greasy hair. He knew who it was immediately. Severus Snape, the potions teacher at Hogwarts. His father called him Snivellus. His mother calls him Severus. Harry decided that he would know him as Professor Snape, or Severus.

"You had some basilisk venom." He stated. His eyes were cold and calculating, trying to figure out the enigma before him. Harry could tell that he was trying to use legilimency on him. Harry internally smirked. He was at the level that he could disguise his shield, or project false thoughts. This time, though, he went for the former. Snape started to frown.

"Yes sir, I did." Harry replied. "How observant of you, considering that the sales lady basically told everyone in the store." Harry had been looking for a reaction, and he got one. Snape was surprised. It was barely visible, but after spending years of learning how to read his mother, he caught it. "And I have more of it." With that, he left the store.

!#$%^&*

Harry could see that his brother was already at Ollivanders, considering all the press that was surrounding it. He sneaked around the press and into the store. After all, he was just the brother of the boy who lived. Who cared about him? Percy was just finishing up as he got there. Quickly, after letting his mother see him (The Mask was still on), he disillusionment charm on himself.

"Congratulations!" Ollivander said. "Mister Potter, you're the proud new owner of a unicorn core, made of hawthorn, and it's 101/4 wand." Percy was looking very pleased with himself; Harry thought with amusement, as if he had just gotten the greatest thing in the world. Wands, Harry thought, were highly overrated. Someone just had to focus their magic while they're young and presto! Wandless magic capabilities.

"Go on, Percy, James, I'll meet you at home." James nodded in acknowledgment. Harry doubted that Percy even heard. As soon as they left the shop, so did all the press. Harry revealed himself.

"Hello Mister Potter." Ollivander said mildly. "Come for a wand?"

Harry really wanted to answer, 'Well duh! Why else would I be here?', but wisely kept his mouth shut and just agreed.

So they started. Wand after wand. After wand. Nothing matched. Finally, after an hour, even Lily was getting impatient, which said a lot to Harry.

"I wonder…" Ollivander said mysteriously. He left for the back of the shop and came back a moment later with a fancy looking box. It was stripped white and black. He wordlessly handed over the wand. Harry could almost feel his excitement. He took the wand. It was the one.

Sparks shot out of the end, forming different animals. The first one was a great snake, followed by a great red fiery bird. Next came a dark shape, completely covered with a cape, and after that came a great white horse, with a single horn on his head.

"What was that?" Harry asked hoarsely. Ollivander looked at him with awe, but instead of answering turned to Lily.

"I know what you are. I know who you are. Your son is going to be great. Teach him well." Then turning to Harry, he said, "Go to Hogwarts. The girl's bathroom on the second floor. There you will find your answers." Without another word, not even to make them pay for the wand, the paled faced, but excited Ollivander ushered them out of his store.

!#$%^&*

The last few weeks had been good to Harry, despite what happened at Ollivanders. He had tried to ask his mother what she was, but she refused to answer him. She wouldn't even give him a hint, knowing that he would most likely figure it out. Also, he realized after he left the store that Ollivander had never told him what his wand was made of.

Despite all that, Harry had been content, until today. He found out that they were holding a going away party for Percy, and every single person in the wizarding world was invited. His mother had somehow convinced him to come out and talk to people for an hour, though he didn't know why. Nobody would ever talk to him.

He watched in amusement as the younger children organized a quidditch game. It looked like Percy, Ray, Fred, George, and some other children that Harry didn't know where trying to play. Suddenly, a red head girl stormed away, after being shouted at by her brother and Percy. She was so upset that she didn't notice that she was going into the manor, which was off limits for the party. Harry quickly followed.

"Hey you!" he called. The girl stopped in the entrance hall. She realized where she was and started to panic. Harry realized that the girl was the same one that had been love struck with Percy in Diagon Alley.

"I'm so sorry," she said through all her tears. "The Boy-Who-Lived and my brother, Ray, wouldn't allow me to play Quidditch, _'because you're a girl.'_" she said the last part in a high pitched voice, mocking Percy and Ray. Harry liked her already.

"It's okay." Harry said. "My brother is a jerk. It seems that yours is too. We can't choose our family." She smiled, and then looked sad.

"Not all of my family is mean. I have another brother, named Ron, who's shunned by mother for some unexplained reason. Maybe it's because he doesn't think that Slytherins are bad." Harry had a feeling that he would like Ron too. "He's Ray's twin…" She trailed off. Now Harry knew who that boy he had seen at Diagon alley was. Feeling that he should change the topic, Harry started to talk to her about Quidditch, not that he enjoyed it much. It turned out that the girl was a very devoted Holyhead Harpies fan. According to her, they were very good, and all girls. Harry knew all this but just listened to the girl talk.

Finally, it was time to go.

"Hey," Harry said casually. "What's your name?" The girl looked startled, but answered anyways.

"Ginny. Ginny Weasley" she told him. He nodded his head.

"Can I write to you during the school year?" asked Harry, feeling nervous and shy for the first time in his life. As he saw her nod her consent, he internally sighed in relief.

"Bye!"

!#$%^&*

_Percy Potter Leaving for Hogwarts_

_By Rita Skeeter, the Official Potter Reporter._

_Today is a monumental day for the wizarding world. Our savior, the one and only conqueror of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is finally going to Hogwarts. Percy Potter, age 11 will be sorted into his house this evening. The results and wagers are finally in. Most people say that there's a 99.9 percent chance of him going into Gryffindor…_

A Hogwarts teacher threw down the paper. The little brat was coming to Hogwarts. The whole world knew that. What the world didn't know was that Percy Potter was never going back home at the end of the year.

**That's chapter one. Please, once again, I don't mind constructive reviews, but I hate flames.**


	3. First Week

**Once again, thank you for all those who either reviewed, put this story on story alert or made it a favourite. Just to let everyone know, I will be keeping the chapters from 7,000 to 10,000 words.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.k. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my new Beta, HP Slash Luv.  
**

Twin Trios

Chapter 2

"Let's go!" yelled Lily up the stairs. Harry watched in amusement as his mother yelled at the brother that the rest of the world believed to be perfect. Well, the world and his new friend Ginny. She had been on his mind since the party had ended. His mother had noticed that he had been happy, much to his dismay. He always hated parties to celebrate his brother, but his mother knew this one had been different. Soon she would start to try and figure out why.

A sleep, yet excited Percy came down the stairs, trunk floating behind him. Harry could see that his father was levitating his trunk for him. Internally, Harry laughed. He had been able to wandlessly do the levitation charm since he was 7.

The ride to King's Cross station was quiet. Percy was still half-asleep, so he didn't have to listen about how the great Boy-Who-Lived was going to be sorted into the greatest house of them all. This left Harry time to think about what Ollivander had said. Suddenly, he felt his wrist tighten and a small, but growing snake head popped out, it's clear eyelids shut.

$ _Harry, $ _Callidus hissed quietly. $ _What house do you think you'll be in? _$

$ _I don't know, Callidus. I just hope that it's not Gryffindor. I'm sure that's the house that Percy's going to be put into. He's stupid and rash enough to go head first into danger. I would hate having to be in the same house as him. You know, Gryffindor is so knonw for bravery without thinking, I sometimes wonder how mother got into it… _$

$_ Oh no, not this again, _$ Callidus complained. $_ I know all about your theories about your mother. How she's too amazing to be in Gryffindor. How she's too smart to be in Gryffindor. How she's too cunning to be in Gryffindor. Your mother was a Gryffindor Harry! There's nothing you can do to change that!_ $

Harry rolled his eyes as Callidus retreated back into his sleeve. That snake was his companion, for life. Callidus had explained that once a basilisk bonds to someone, it cannot be undone, not even by death. But still, he could be one annoying snake!

They had finally reached King's Cross. Unfortunately for Harry, Percy was now up and about, talking like there's no tomorrow.

"Dad, what do you think will be my first heroic act as a Gryffindor? I really hope it's something spectacular. Maybe knocking out a mountain troll would do. Or maybe I'll save a unicorn in the forbidden forest?"

"I don't know Percy," responded James Potter. "I'm not sure any of those things are good enough for you. Leave the easy work to lowly people." He said as he shot a dirty look at Harry, who pretended not to notice. "I think that you should slay a basilisk, or drive off hundreds of dementors."

"James," Lily chided, "Don't give him any ideas. I don't want him to get hurt in his first year at Hogwarts."

She had The Mask on. Harry hated when she put on The Mask, but knew that it was necessary to keep the world thinking she was a golden Gryffindor. In pairs, the family of four went through the barrier. James and Percy went first. Once they were through, Lily dropped The Mask for a moment. Her happy Gryffindor face immediately changed to a much more serious and hardened face. A _Slytherin_ face.

"Here, Harry." Was all that she said, dropping an emerald green ring into his hands. It felt so right. Without another word, she put The Mask back on, and led him through the gate. It was the first time that Harry had been on the platform. As usual it was very busy, the smoke from the Hogwarts Express floating above everybody's head. Lily let go of his hand, pushing him away, knowing that he hated the press. She started heading into the crowd, towards Percy. Harry turned away as he saw her disappear.

Harry started to look for his one and only friend Ginny. He also was partially searching for the brother that she had mentioned, Ron. It sounded like he was the odd-ball of the Weasley family. Or, the known odd-ball. Harry had a feeling that Ginny had disguised her un-Weasley-ish qualities better than her brother had.

"Harry! Harry! Over here!" A female's voice called from the left. Harry turned and saw Ginny, along with a bunch of red-heads. As Harry scanned the group, he noticed that Mrs. Weasley and Ray were missing. Seeing no reason not to go visit them, as he got along with the rest, he started to head over.

"Hello Mr. Weasley." greeted Harry politely.

"Hello Mr. Potter. How are you today?" Mr Weasley said after a slight hesitation. Harry couldn't decide whether being called Mr. Potter was a good thing or a bad thing. It showed Harry that he really didn't know his name. Did he want to be known, or did he want to keep in the background?

Harry mingled with the Weasleys for the next half-hour. They talked about Quidditch, what house they thought the different people were going to be at Hogwarts, and much to Harry's dismay, Percy. Also, Harry looked for a Weasley that he didn't recognize, the one that he had seen at Diagon alley, but couldn't find one. Figuring he was already on the train, Harry excused himself, saying bye to Ginny, and got on the train.

Harry quickly found an empty compartment, and took out a book on Potions to read. According to his mother, he was at a very advanced level for his age. That's why he had bought Advanced Potions Making. His was planning to start his animagus training as soon as possible. Just as he was going to sink into his book, he was rudely interrupted by someone. He looked up and saw his brother.

"Hello," Percy said. "I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, so get out of my compartment."

He had two people with him. His 'friend', Ray Weasley, but it seemed to Harry that he had picked up another devoted follower-already.

"Why hello, little bro," Harry said casually, knowing that his brother hated being reminded that Harry was the older one, therefore the heir to the fortune. Harry was pretty sure that his father had tried to disown him once, but his mother had stopped him. "I see you've picked up another friend." It was the girl that Harry had seen at the book store. The one that had looked bored.

"Her name's Gabriel. Gabriel Granger. She, like me, is unfortunate enough to have a twin." Harry mentally laughed, as Ray looked happy. It appeared that Ray had never told Percy about his black-sheep twin, Ron. Harry would be looking forward to see the explosion that followed the discovery this evening. "Now get out of this compartment. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, and you'll do as I say."

Harry didn't feel like arguing, so he just picked up his stuff and left. He kept his head down, and regretted it.

CRASH

Harry was involved in a three way collision. He looked up and saw the boy that had been in Diagon alley, the one he had been looking for the whole time. Ron Weasley. Tearing his eyes away from Ron, he observed the girl. She had very bushy hair. He recognized her as the girl that he had seen with Gabriel in the book store. She must be her sister. Poor girl.

"I'm sorry," she said coolly, not at all like he had expected a muggleborn girl to act. "We all should've watched where we were going." Harry was impressed. The girl had not only kept her cool, but she had also successfully blamed the three of them. However, she had done it so they couldn't accuse her of blaming them.

"It's okay," said Ron. Harry took the chance to study him more. Harry quickly realized that Ron had been ignored by his family from a very early age. Harry felt a pang of sympathy. The kid must not know why he got treated that way. "We all make mistakes. Look at me. I can't do anything right." Harry was surprised at how depressed he sounded. His family's rejection, although it has been going on for years, must still be hard for him.

In unspoken agreement, the trio walked down the train looking for a compartment. It never occurred to them that their twins had formed the same friendship. Nobody would ever realize that the two trios would become great, in very different ways. One trio would be remembered with reverence, and the other would be used to scare children to eat food they don't like. The only question was which of the twin trios would be which?

!#$%^&*

As the train ride passed, Harry, Ron and Hermione fell into an easy conversation pattern, despite the fact that they had met awkwardly. Ron was surprisingly not only good at chess, and loved to talk Quidditch, but he also was really into History, and not just of magic. When Harry had told him what he had heard about Professor Binns, his enthusiasm only grew. 'Helps us figure out how to do better battle strategies,' was his reasoning. Hermione, on the other hand, was all about Transfiguration and books. Harry noted with amusement that she was like a walking textbook. He told her so, and that she should ease up a bit, because a lot of people don't like know-it-alls. She seemed to still burst with knowledge, and still burst out into lecture mode sometimes, but she had already notably improved. Harry explained to his new companions that he loved and excelled in Charms, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. The conversation started to lull at that point, so Ron and Hermione got out books, while Harry reflected on the talk that his mother and him had had the other day.

Flashback

"Harry," said Lily as she started to approach him. "I'd like to talk to you about a certain branch of magic that I believe you're a natural in." Harry raised an eyebrow, clearly not impressed. "Harry, I'm talking about Occlumency and Legilimency." That impressed Harry, if the way his head shot up was any indication.

"Why would you think that, mother," he asked sweetly.

"I believe that because of what you did earlier, about how you saw the memory of what Dumbledore did to me. Harry, I have perfect Occlumency shields. Not even Dumbledore can get by them, and believe me, he has tried. It is rumored that natural Legilimens cannot be stopped by any shield, and that their shields are impermeable, not even another natural's." It took Harry a moment to process it.

Harry knew he was powerful, and he said that without any arrogance. He knew who the last natural had been: Salazar Slytherin. He dropped down on the floor, dead to the world.

Flashback

Harry was still trying to figure out what Ollivander had meant about the girls bathroom. Was the man wacky? But nevertheless, Harry still respected the man, as wandlore was not an easy subject to learn, never mind be successful in it. He would see what was so special about that bathroom when he got to school.

Harry looked out of the window. It was starting to get dark as the train approached Hogwarts.

"Let's get our robes on." Harry suggested casually. The trio looked at each other and playfully said 'Not going in the Bathroom.' In the end, Hermione got to go, since she was the only girl. Then Harry cast a spell (with his wand) that created a barrier in between himself and Ron, allowing them to get changed. When they were all done, they talked about the topic that Harry hated: What house were they going to be sorted into?

"I just hope I'm not in the same house as my brother. I don't want to have to stand in his shadow during my seven years at Hogwarts," Harry said. "Personally, though there's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, I'd like to go into Slytherin or Ravenclaw."

"Slytherin Harry?" Hermione sounded horrified at the thought of her nice new friend going into Slytherin, the dark house. "That's where all dark wizards come from!" Ron just watched. Harry already knew that he didn't think anything bad about Slytherins, because he had no reason to.

"Hermione, Slytherin's the house of ambition and cunning. A lot of people that are high up light ministry wizards came from Slytherin. All that Slytherins want is respect and power. Not all power is bad. Voldemort" They both flinched. "wants to take over the wizarding world. That's bad. Dumbledore wants to keep everything the way it is, and uses his power to do that. I, on the other hand, want to make the world a better place with my power, just like the founders did. They completely changed the world."

Hermione considered that, but couldn't find anything wrong with it, so didn't say anything. Just then the train started to slow down. They had arrived.

!#$%^&*

_For I'm the Thinking cap!_

The hall burst into applause, much to Harry's confusion. What was so good about a singing hat? He felt sort of sorry for it. It must have a really sad life, if it just made up songs all year.

"Abott, Hannah," called Professor McGonagall. A girl with red hair (and wasn't a Weasley, amazingly enough) walked up to the teacher. She was obviously nervous.

The hat thought for a second or two. "HUFFLEPUFF."

The sorting continued on at this pace. Terry Boot was a Ravenclaw while Lavender Brown became a new Gryffindor.

After a while, it was the Granger twins' turns. Gabriel went first. Harry thought that she looked bored, but he caught the gleam of excitement in her eyes. "GRYFFINDOR"

It was now the one that Harry had been looking for. Hermione Granger's sorting. He was pretty sure that he and Ron would get into Slytherin, despite telling everyone he didn't know what house he would be in. "SLYTHERIN."

Silent chaos. That's the only way to describe the great hall. You could've heard a pin drop. Because a muggleborn had just been sorted into Slytherin. Harry could see that it hurt her that no one had clapped for her, but she quickly put it off her facial features. Then she started to head towards the Slytherin table, which avoided her like she was a piece of mud. After a long silence, the sorting continued. Finally, it got to 'P'.

"Potter, Harry," Called McGonagall in confusion. She didn't know that there was a brother to the Boy-Who-Lived. Neither did a lot of other people, because. All over the great hall, whispers could be heard.

"Another Potter?"

"The great Boy-Who-Lived has a brother? I bet he's really jealous of his brother's fame."

"Is he as cute as his brother?"

Tired of all the speculation, Harry stepped up and put the hat on his head.

He heard the hat gasp, than say quietly "Mr. Potter, would you please lower your shields. It appears you're a natural at the mind arts." Harry, not really knowing what to do, just willed his mind to be unprotected. "Thank you," the hat said.

"And thank you," responded Harry. "For not yelling out to the whole school that I have occlumency shields. Some people would find that very interesting, and I don't want a lot of attention."

"Now for your sorting," the hat muttered quietly. "You have a clever mind, very sharp. Rowena would love to make you hers. But you don't shy away from a challenge, but won't go into a conflict without thinking about it first. You're also fiercely loyal to your mother. Now where to put you."

"There's more in here? My, my Mr. Potter, aren't you full of surprises. A basilisk has bonded to you. The last person that that ever happened to was Salazar Slytherin. The basilisk is still here, in this very school. Your basilisk was serious when it said the bond went beyond death. His loyalty will be given to your children, and their children, and on and on. How do you think the heir of Slytherin controls the one in the Chamber?"

"What Chamber," asked Harry franticly. Then it clicked. The girls' bathroom. But how will that answer his questions? Harry shook his head clear. He was in the middle of his sorting.

"Sorting? You still want to be sorted? After that discovery?" Harry realized that the sorting hat actually had a sense of humour. "Well, you've been here long enough. You'll do great. SLYTHERIN!"

The hall was shocked dead. The Potter was a hardcore light family. How could one of them go into Slytherin? Harry, like Hermione, didn't get any applause from the Slytherin table. Instead, he just calmly walked over to it, showing no reaction, and sat down next to Hermione. "You were up there for twenty minutes," she hissed as the sorting resumed.

Harry stopped paying attention until he heard the name "Weasley, Ray." The moment it touched his head, it cried out "GRYFFINDOR." The Gryffindor table was banging with cheers. They always seemed to be the most enthusiastic when someone got sorted into their house. As he watched Ray go to the table, he also noticed that Percy had been sorted there. It did not remotely surprise him.

"Weasley, Ron." Called out Professor McGonagall. The hat took a bit more time deciding what house Ron should go in, but not to Harry's surprise, it eventually called out "SLYTHERIN."

The hall was in shock. A muggleborn, a Potter, and a Weasley had all gone into Slytherin. Noticing that everyone was uneasy, McGonagall quickly said the next name. Then the sorting was over.

!#$%^&*

Harry was confused. Dumbledore had given some speech about how all the students should stay away from the third floor. That's dumb. If Dumbledore really wanted the students to stay away, then the old man could've warded it. It almost seemed like he wanted Percy to go to the corridor and find whatever it was.

"Harry. Harry?" called out Hermione from behind him. He slowed down so Ron and Hermione could catch up. "What did you think about Dumbeldore's announcement?" she asked.

Ron answered first. "If Dumbledore was half as brilliant as they say he is, then why would he have announced that to the entire school? It's almost like goading them one."

Harry gave them his perspective. "I think that Dumbeldore wants Percy to go and do something in there. I don't know what, and I really don't care either. I just want to do school work."

With that, the three of them went off about school work. They quickly devised a schedule that would allow the others to be helped in their pourer subjects, like Harry was bad at History, so Ron could help him. Harry wasn't sure that he could trust Ron and Hermione. Not so much Ron as Hermione. Ron had grown up shunned by his family, while Hermione had grown up in a loving home. It would be much easier for Ron to be an emotionless Slytherin then Hermione. Deciding to display some trust, which was new for him, he told them about the Chamber of Secrets.

"Have you ever heard of the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry casually asked his two friends. At least, he thought they were his friends. They both looked surprised at the question.

"Yes I have," Hermione said, slipping back into her bossy _I'm superior to you_ tone. Then she realized what she had said. "It's rumored that Salazar Slytherin had built a secret chamber below the school before he left it. A lot of people have tried to look for it, but no one has ever found it."

"I heard that inside of it lies a huge monster, waiting to purge the school of all muggleborns, since that's what Slytherin hated." added Ron.

They had arrived at the common room. As the prefect said the password, Harry whispered one long thing to his new two friends. "Well, I know where it is." They looked at him in shock, but didn't get a chance to answer as they were ushered into the common room.

Behind them, a portrait of a man was smiling. He had overheard their entire conversation. His interest had been peaked when he felt someone that had his blood enter the school. He was now very pleased that his true heir (not that fake excuse for a wizard) knew where his chamber was.

!#$%^&*

Harry walked up the stairs. Professor Snape had lectured all of the new Slytherins about how since we're the 'bad' house; everybody will be out to get us. Harry didn't pay attention, because he had already figured out that Slytherin isn't going to be like that this year. The Slytherin is going to be split, into two groups; Harry's group, and then the Draco Malfoy posy.

Draco Malfoy didn't seem to like that, Harry thought. Malfoy was already trying to prove his dominance of the house, not that Harry and Ron cared.

"This is my bed, Potter, Weasel," As he chose the bed near the window. Harry and Ron were prepared for it, so they just nodded their heads. "I don't want you to touch it at all." Once again, Harry and Ron nodded their heads, not an expression on their faces. Finally, Malfoy got fed up. "ANSWER ME."

Without another word, Harry and Ron climbed into bed, not looking at Malfoy once. Harry made sure to cast some protective charms around both of their beds. If someone approached their beds, they would be hung by their ankles-until the morning, when Harry was awake and able to get them down. With that, Harry was lost to the world of sleep.

!#$%^&*

"Hurry up Ron, we might be late."

Harry had always been an early raiser, but he quickly found out that Ron Weasley was not. So by the time he had showered and brushed his teeth, Ron still wasn't even stirring. Then he looked at his watch: it was six in the morning.

He felt a movement on his arm. $ _Harry _$ Callidus murmured sleepily. $_ Go back to bed. A king needs his beauty sleep. _$ Harry rolled his eyes at his snake's complaint.

$ _Shut up Callidus. I need to plan on what I'm going to do. _$

$ _Do when? You're in classes all day! _$ Callidus exclaimed with indignation.

Harry looked at his snake. $ _I need to plan my excursion to the chamber of secrets of course. I don't want to go there without a plan, do I? _$

$_ Humph,_ $ Callidus complained like a grumpy old snake, which is bad, considering how young he was. $_ Well, I think that I would just go exploring, instead of planning as much as possible. _$ This caused Harry to laugh.

$ _If you were sorted, you would've been in Gryffindor! _$ He exclaimed. $ _They're known for just going into situations without thinking about it first. You sure that you should be a-_$ Harry was cut off as he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Callidus quickly went back into his sleeve.

"Harry," called Hermione. "Why were you hissing?" She gave him a look that said 'I'm not stupid.'

Harry sighed in resignation. "I can speak parseltongue."

For the first time that he knew her, Hermione was speechless. He had half expected her to go off spouting a lot of facts about parseltongues, or scream and run away. Stand there and stare at him was not on that list. It sort of made him uncomfortable. Realizing that she was staring at him, she dropped her gaze.

"Sorry," she murmured quietly. "I just know that it's an extremely rare gift. The last one to have it was Lord Voldemort." Harry was surprised that she said his name without fear. He understood that she was muggleborn, so she didn't have as much things to fear from Voldemort as some other people did, but it was still a little shocking to hear her say the name so casually.

"It's nothing. Now that you know though, I can tell you about what I have to do later." Harry explained that he had reason to believe that the Chamber of Secrets was in the girls' bathroom, and he was going to go investigate it.

Hermione paused for a moment. "You know Harry, there might be a reason someone never found the Chamber of Secrets. Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth. A very well known one too. So how come it's never occurred to someone that to get into this chamber-"

"You have talk to it in parseltongue! That's true, why hasn't anyone thought of that before." The two friends sat down, pondering what they had just deduced. They stayed that way until they were rudely interrupted by everybody's favorite boy.

"POTTER, MUDBLOOD, GET OFF MY COUCH." Yelled no other then Draco Malfoy. Harry thought he looked like a tomato, his face was so red. Perhaps it was the thought of a muggleborn on his couch. With a glance at Hermione, they both got up without a word and went to wake Ron.

!#$%^&*

"Great," said a Ron that was still waking up. "We have Transfiguration with the Gryffindors first. My brother's just the one that I wanted to see."

Hermione spoke up. "I don't know what's wrong with Gabriel. She used to be so nice, but when she got her Hogwarts letter, she became all cold. It's almost like… someone told her something that we don't know." They looked at Harry expecting a comment, which surprised him. He was used to just being ignored with nobody caring about what he thought. Was this what it was like to have friends? If it was, he sort of liked it.

"My brother sucks at Transfiguration, much to James' displeasure, since it was his best subject." The other two looked at Harry when he referred to his father by his first name, instead of calling him dad or father. "But then again," he said as an after though. "Percy's not really good at anything. The only thing he's half-decent at is defense against the dark arts." Still, Harry was better.

The trio started to walk to the class, or where they thought the class was. Of course, it was too much to ask to be able to walk to class in peace, just talking quietly.

"You're embarrassments to our families, Weasley, Hamper."

The three of them turned and saw that they were being approached by their counter parts-Percy, Ray and Gabriel. Harry tried to stop himself from laughing, but didn't have any success. A snort left his mouth, surprising Percy and Ray. They had never seen any emotion coming from Harry, especially one that made him laugh.

"Hamper? Is that the best you could do, Brat-Who-Lived?" Harry watched in amusement as the three of them tried their best not to look upset, which resulted with their faces turning red. To Harry's surprise, it was Gabriel that made the next move. He had gotten the impression that she didn't talk much.

"Shut up, you stupid slimy snakes!" her voice rang out. Hermione caught the plural form on her words, and her face turned into a face of hurt. It was just for a few seconds before she got it under control again, but it was enough for even the most idiotic Gryffindor to see. The Gryffindor trio laughed. Right at the Slytherin trio. Harry tried to calm down, but he couldn't. He never had had a friend before, so he didn't really know what to do. So he did the only thing that he knew how to do.

"_Bagos Batis"_

A jet of yellow light shot out of Harry's wand, and struck Hermione's twin. He figured he would probably get in trouble for casting in the corridors, but didn't really care. He was defending a friend. The only thing that he cared about was he was showing the world some of his magical power, which he liked to keep a secret.

Gabriel started to sprout bat wings around her ear area. Harry knew that this would make her extremely sensitive to every single noise around her, making it extremely painful. To add to that pain, she started to sprout boils all around her face.

By this time, the fight between the twin trios had attracted attention. Harry sighed mentally. It was only the first day and he, Ron, and Hermione had already gotten into a fight, and that was before classes had started.

"Let's go to Transfiguration," he murmured to Ron and Hermione. They nodded, a little stunned by his display of magic. They were a little surprised that Harry already knew that spell. It was around third year level.

The tree friends walked off, heading towards the second floor. Once they got there, they quickly located the Transfiguration classroom. Then looking at their watches, they saw that they still had ten minutes to kill before the start of class.

"Where do you guys want to sit?" Hermione asked them.

"How about in the second row," Ron suggested. Harry thought it was a good idea, so they all say down.

Neither of them noticed a tabby cat that walked in a few minutes before class. The cat was a bit surprised to see students already in the class.

A minute before the bell rang was rush hour. The entire class came in. Almost the entire class, Harry noticed, as Percy, Ray and Gabriel were still missing. Serves them right for making fun of my friend. Ron and Hermione had not mentioned the incident, but Harry was pretty sure that they would say something to him about it later.

As the bell rung, there was still no Professor McGonagall. Nor was there Percy, Ray and Gabriel. He saw that Hermione was frowning slightly. He realized that before she came to Hogwarts, Gabriel must've been an academic nut like her.

About five minutes had passed and the class was getting restless. The professor still hadn't showed up, and neither had the Gryffindor trio. The class was about to leave when they heard footsteps running in their direction. Everybody quickly sat down, not wanting to get in trouble during the first class.

The door burst open and a panting Percy appeared, alongside Ray and Gabriel.

"Great, the professor isn't here!" exclaimed Percy. "Not that she could do anything to me, since I'm the Boy-Who-Lived." The class was wondering where in the world Professor McGonagall was. Harry was hoping that she would come in at this moment and give Percy some detentions.

Just as Harry was turning back to the front, he noticed a cat. A cat that seemed to glare at Percy, if it was possible for any cat other then Mrs. Norris to glare. Then, to his partial surprise, it turned into a human. In fact, it was their teacher.

"Mr. Potter," she barked. "Sit down and ten points from Gryffindor." The Gryffindors groaned. They had already started to lose points, before the first class even began.

"But Professor, I'm the Boy-Who-Lived! You can't…" Percy trailed off at the look that McGonagall gave him. It clearly stated that she could and would do that and worse if he didn't shut up.

"Come on Percy, let's go sit down," said Gabriel quietly. Percy and Ray followed her as she took them to the three remaining seats-The ones in the front.

Then the class started. Professor McGonagall started out with a teaser of what it would look like if they worked hard in her class. She turned her desk into a pig, and then back. Then without taking a breath she went off into a lecture that Harry could tell she was well practiced at-She probably said the same thing every year. After that, they copied notes on theory for twenty minutes. Finally she gave them something entertaining.

"I want you to try and turn this match into a needle." She barked at the class and with a swish of her wand, the matches went flying to one desk each. "You have half an hour. Begin."

Harry observed his classmates as they all tried to turn their matches into needles. Malfoy waved his wand over his match, than glared at it when it didn't do anything. A random Gryffindor that Harry didn't know was making a poking motion at his match, then pausing hopefully, as if he expected the match transform by itself. The one that amused Harry the most was Percy and Ray's attempts. To call them fails would be to put it nicely. Percy was slowly waving his wand over his match, saying the incantation "Changio Match." Ray, not knowing what else to do, just copied what Percy was doing. Harry sighed. Nobody realized that transfiguration didn't have any incantations. It was about intent, focus, and power. Harry would bet that McGonagall was either the second or third most powerful person in this castle, since she was so good at her subject. Or maybe she was just focused.

Then a voice pulled him out of his musing. "Mr. Potter, may you please attempt the transfiguration?" Professor McGonagall asked him. Unfortunately, Percy heard.

"Hear that?" he stage-whispered to Ray. "The snake is so bad he doesn't even try." While Ray and Gabriel snickered at his words, Harry got angry. He was planning to pretend to struggle for a while, than do it. But that comment had almost changed his mind.

$ _Just do it Harry. I know you want to. Think of it as revenge for all the times he got you punished. If you're in a better mood, exploring the chamber will be more fun. _$ Callidus egged him on. His snake was sneaky like a snake. But Harry had also lived with him for years and wouldn't fall for those tricks that others would. However, he did want to upstage Percy.

With a lazy wave of his wand, without even looking at the match he changed it into a needle, with an especially sharp point. The whole class stopped what they were doing and shamelessly stared at his accomplishment.

"What!" he snapped. "Can't I just do my work in peace?" Without another word, they all looked somewhere else. Except for the Gryffindor Threesome. Percy and Ray had seen Harry try to do magic, and fail-as he had planned them to. Now that they saw him transfigure on his first try with great ease, maybe they wouldn't be as cocky. Harry highly doubted it though. Gabriel, on the other hand, was looking at him like he had done the magic with all luck and no skill. Either way, Harry really didn't care.

The rest of the class went by quickly. Harry was absent mindedly transfiguring his needle into a match, and then back into a needle. He just ignored the stares that he was being given. By the end of the lesson, only Harry, Hermione and Gabriel had transfigured their matches. Hermione had also managed to transfigure her needle back into a match, with some coaching from Harry. As the bell rang, McGonagall assigned homework to all but Harry, Hermione and Gabriel. Ron got some, though Harry reassured him that he was really close in transfiguring his match-the only thing he had missed was that the tip wasn't pointed.

As soon as they were out of the class room, Ron and Hermione turned on Harry and started their interrogation.

"How are you so good at Transfiguration?" Hermione asked right away. "It was the first class, but you didn't even blink, and did it on your first try!"

"I've had lots of practice," Harry said quietly, looking around to make sure that no one was listening. "There is a major flaw in the under-age magic restriction, Hermione. If you live in a wizarding house hold, the ministry 'trusts' the parents to keep their children from doing magic. The rule only really applies to the muggleborns and half bloods that live with muggle relatives." Hermione's jaw dropped open at this news.

"But that's… that's… that's so unfair! The purebloods and people that live with magical relatives get to practice magic year round!"

"That's right, mudblood." said a drawling voice behind them. Without even turning, Harry knew that it was Draco Malfoy. He was working hard on controlling his temper, but couldn't. He knew that. If Malfoy pushed him with the insults, then he wouldn't be able to hold back and not hurt him.

"The minister understands that blood does matter, no matter what that fool Dumbledore says." Harry's eyes flashed dangerously. Without another word, he grabbed Malfoy by the hem of his robes as tight as he could, and then dragged him into the nearest empty classroom. The door slammed shut behind. He didn't ask himself until later why that happened.

"Listen here, Malfoy." He said, his eyes flashing dangerously. "I don't want to hear any more comments about muggleborns from you, just because they have a loving home and you don't. My mother is a muggleborn, and she's four times the witch that your mother or father will ever be." He saw Malfoy's eyes widen at his comments. Without another word, Harry turned around to leave, but froze when he felt danger.

"_Expelliarmus." _Harry cried before Malfoy could say anything, though his wand was drawn. He had obviously not expected Harry to counter attack, as his eyes widened in surprise.

"I warned you once, Malfoy." Harry said, threat lancing his voice. "I could kill you on command, just like that sad excuse for a Dark Lord, Voldemort."

Malfoy looked like he didn't know if he should be fearful or skeptic. So he did what Malfoy's did best in private. "The Dark Lord has no equal. Nobody was able to match his skill and power, nor will ever be able to." Harry noted that he spoke in past tense. "Especially not the weakest first year." As he spoke, Harry gestured for Callidus to slip out of his sleeve. As Harry was leaving, he said one last thing.

$ _Come along Callidus. _$ He whispered. The last thing that he saw was Draco Malfoy's pale face get paler, if that was possible.

!#$%^&*

For the rest of the day, Draco Malfoy kept giving Harry fearful looks, much to Harry's amusement. Both Ron and Hermione had asked what he did, but he said that he would tell them later, at lunch. So that brought them to charms class.

Much like in Transfiguration, Flitwick was a very good instructor that believed in the theory of magic before the practical aspect. After a good hour of notes, the class was given instructions to practice the wand movements of the easiest of charm: Wingardium Leviosa.

"That's right!" called Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice. "Swish and Flick."

Overall, Harry thought it was a boring class. He was very gifted at charms. Just another thing that connected his mother and himself.

Then the lunch time entertainment came.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were peacefully eating lunch. Ron was grabbing everything in sight, while Hermione was nice and neat.

"Hey Hamper! Weasel! Snakey! How did you cheat in transfiguration?" Came a voice from right behind them. They turned around as one, not surprised one bit to see the 'Golden Trio' standing right behind them. Ray and Gabriel were snickering at what their friend had said.

Harry glanced at the head table. All the professors were looking somewhere else, or preoccupied. Except for the headmaster, who was staring right at the twin trios, his annoying twinkle in his eye.

This time it was Hermione who answered.

"Snakey? You guys suck at making insults." She said.

The only word that Percy registered in his mind was suck. That meant he was bad at something! Percy Potter was the Boy-Who-Lived, the most powerful wizard ever.

"Now listen here!" Percy shouted, gaining the attention of the entire great hall. "I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, so I'm way more powerful then you!" This was met by applause from almost the whole Gryffindor table along with shouts of agreement.

"Come on, Ron, Hermione. He's not worth it. Let's leave." The three of them walked out of the great hall to many jeers and insults going their way for insulting the Boy-Who-Lived.

"In here." Harry ushered them into an empty classroom. "We got… interrupted in our last conversation after Transfiguration. Hermione, I know that you still had some questions."

Hermione didn't need any encouragement. "Why is there that loophole? It's like a set up for if you're not a pureblood, then you can't practice magic! It's so… so… so unfair!"

"Hermione," Ron said quietly. "I know that you're still new to the wizarding world, but I know that you know more about the importance of blood then the other muggleborns. You do not, however, realize how deep it runs in the dark families. My family is okay with any type of blood. The dark families, though, believe that if you don't have pureblood, then you're not a good wizard."

"I know that-"

"Yes, you do know that. What you don't know is that since the pureblood wizards have been around for so long, especially the dark ones, they hold high up positions in the government. Or have a great influence, because of their money. Lucius Malfoy is an example of that."

Hermione seemed to be considering his words. She could see the truth and logic in it.

"Ron," Harry spoke up. "I need to tell you something about me."

"Yes Harry? I know that we haven't been friends very long, but I know that I can trust you with…a lot of things."

$ _Come out and play, Callidus. Eyelids closed!_ $ He hissed. Ron stared for a second or two, than fainted.

!#$%^&*

"So that's why Malfoy was so scared of you!" Ron exclaimed as they were walking to Herbology. "Did you threaten him? Next time can I come?" He sounded very excited.

"There's more though." Harry said to him, lowering his voice (Hermione was walking and reading a book at the same time-how, Harry didn't know) "I think I know where the Chamber of Secrets is." Ron's eyes widened in astonishment, but he didn't say anything, since they were walking into Herbology.

Harry's first week at Hogwarts had passed quickly. He had made two new friends, which surprised him. They were both his friends because of him, not because it was a way to get to Percy. Ron, like him, had been slandered by his family and ignored most of his life. Hermione, on the other hand, was loved by her parents, although it was plain that they favored Gabriel. Harry had learned that her sister was very good at sports. Harry briefly wondered if she would make the Quidditch team.

Harry excelled in all of his classes, except for History of Magic and Transfiguration. Ron was extremely good at History and Hermione with Transfiguration. Despite Harry's strong showing at the first class, he had reassured Hermione that she was better, as he had done it lots of times, due to the loop hole, while she had only done it once. In History of Magic, well… Ron was the only one that didn't fall asleep. Even Hermione fell asleep, but only after Ron reassured her that she could look at his notes. Harry's personal bread and butter were Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions.

Despite his initial disappointment in Charms, he realized that it quickly picked up. Flitwick had noticed that Harry didn't have any trouble what so ever with his Charm casting, and was delighted, claiming that he must have inherited his mother's talent. Harry loved to see the look on Percy's face darken.

Sadly, though, DADA was a joke to Harry. The man, named Professor Quirell, couldn't even face his stutter, let alone face a vampire that everyone claimed he had. Apparently that's why his class smelled like garlic, but Harry didn't buy it. Garlic was very strong scented, and could be used to cover a lot of scents.

The first Potions class was on Friday. It was the only other class that they had with the Gryffindors.

The class was divided into two, with two people sharing a table. Ron and Hermione opted to sit together, and Harry almost laughed out loud when he realized that the only one that didn't have a partner was Draco Malfoy. Just as he sat down with Malfoy, the dungeon door slammed open dramatically. The bell rang the next moment. Then Professor Snape entered the room, his eyes sweeping. Without a word, he walked to the front of the class and turned.

"There will be no silly wand waving in my class." He stated so quietly that Harry had to strain to hear him. "I hope that some of you have the rare and brilliant gift when it comes to the art of potion making, instead of all the dunderheads that I normally have to teach." As his eyes completed the sweep, Harry saw his eyes flicker as they saw him. He obviously remembered him as the kid who had sold the basilisk venom.

"Percy Potter," he sneered, "Our new celebrity."

"That's right." Percy shot back. "I'm five times as famous as you'll ever be." Harry was shocked. Was his brother honestly stupid enough to talk back and provoke a teacher, no matter how bias?

"Then, Mr. Potter, would you find a bezoar?" Snape asked, not really expecting the right answer.

Percy looked like he had no idea, but still opened up his mouth and said "That's below me, the Boy-Who-Lived. That's what the lowly healers are for."

Snape's eyebrows curled upwards in surprise. Even he had not expected the Potter spawn (the famous one, anyway) to be _that _stupid. Harry snorted at his brother's comment, which made Snape turn on him.

"Another Potter. Could you tell me what the difference of monkshood and wolfsbane is?" Trick question, Harry immediately thought.

"Sir, they are the same thing. In fact they also go by the name aconite." The class was dead silent. If the great Boy-Who-Lived couldn't answer, then why could his inferior twin?

"Very good, Mr. Potter. I'm glad to know that one of the Potter children inherited their mother's talent." If possible, the class got even quieter. Professor Severus Snape had just given a compliment. "Fifteen points to Slytherin."

The rest of class passed by quickly. Snape continued to pick on the Gryffindors, particularly Percy, Ray and Nevielle Longbottom. At the end, Harry had a perfect potion. He handed it in for grading after marking his name on it, then headed out of the room to where Ron and Hermione were waiting.

Together they left for the great hall.

!#$%^&*

The staff meeting was just coming to a close on Friday after the classes, and the reports that Albus Dumbledore had received were disturbing. There had been too many surprises this week for his liking.

First was the sorting. Harry Potter had been sorted into Slytherin, the dark house. Dumbledore was worried about what this would mean for the Potter family. He thought that was a bit strange too. He had not heard a letter from James Potter as he had expected. Since Harry had been sorted into Slytherin, he must be turning dark. That made him worried for Percy's safety. If the boy joined the Death Eaters ranks, then he would have an inside edge to attack the Boy-Who-Lived.

The second surprise was the reports that he had received from the different teachers. He had set it up so Percy had found the right friend in Ray and Gabriel, whom he had scouted to make sure they were appropriate for the task to guide Percy in the right direction. He had also expected Percy and Gabriel to be the top of their class. They weren't.

The three of them, or as he liked to fondly call them, the golden trio, was nowhere near the top of the class. Instead, that spot belonged to the Dark Threesome. Harry, Ron and Hermione Granger were all one, two, three in every single class. Harry took Charms, Potions, and DADA, Ron was great at History while Hermione was the specialist at transfiguration. Sure, Dumbledore reasoned with himself, it was only the first week. However, they showed great promise. All the teachers were practically ranting about those three, while they had only negative comments about the golden trio.

Overall, Albus Dumbledore was very afraid. The only way they could be that good was if they had done some dark ritual. Even he hadn't been that good. In the mind of Albus Dumbledore, it was certain that the trio had gone dark. They must be contained.

!#$%^&*

Ginny Weasley was tired. She had had to listen to her mother rant about how Ron had been sorted into Slytherin house. For the last five days. She quickly found herself dreaming about a certain green eyed boy, who had said he would write, but when? Ginny heard a hoot of an owl, just before a piece of parchment floated down on her lap. She looked down.

_Dear Ginny,_

_Do you trust me? If you do, then cut yourself and spill a drop of your blood onto the paper._

Ginny hesitated a little bit. She was aware that anything that had to do with blood was powerful, sometimes dangerous magic. But in the end, she thought that Harry could be trusted.

_Hello Ginny. If you are reading this, then you have obviously decided that you trust me. Don't worry about the spell; all it does is make sure that you're the only one that can read it._

_I don't know if you've heard, but I got sorted into the Slytherin house, along with your brother Ron. Can you imagine the uproar of a Weasley being sorted into Slytherin? That was bad enough for the pureblood fanatics, but then Hermione, a muggleborn, had to get sorted. We shook the house to the core._

_The classes are nice. Professor Snape isn't that bad to you if you can actually do potions, despite what you hear. Also, Flitwick and McGonagall are great teachers. Professor Binns, though, is a bore. The only one that can stay awake during his class is your brother Ron._

_We already have enemies, though. Draco Malfoy is terrified of me. Why, you may find out next year. The other ones is the so called 'Golden Trio,' which consists of Percy Potter, Ray Weasley, and Gabriel Granger. Gabriel is Hermione's twin sister. She's not as smart as our Hermione, but she's way more athletic. They insult us every chance that they have, and the teachers don't do anything about it. It really doesn't bother us._

_Hope you're having fun without all your brothers at your house._

_Your Friend,_

_Harry James Potter_

_P.S. Ron says hi. Ray doesn't._

**There you have it. The Chapter 2. Like it, hate it, whatever you want to do. Review if you have something nice to say, but don't even bother if you're just going to tell me how bad I am at writing, and how I should quit Fanfiction.**


	4. Discovering

**For those who reviewed or placed this story on their favourites or story alerts, thank you. Please put it on your favourites, as that is a place that I always find good stories, so I assume that other people do too. For those who haven't visited my profile in a while, I now post how many words each chapter was and how many words the chapter that I'm currently writing. That will give you an idea of when I will be updating.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.k. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

******Thank you to my new Beta, HP Slash Luv.**

Twin Trios

Chapter 3

Harry was up early and eager on Saturday. He had finished all of his homework already, along with Ron and Hermione's help, although he had helped them in Charms, Potions, and Defense. That left a whole day to explore the Chamber of Secrets. Or at least what he hoped was the Chamber of Secrets. It only crossed his mind for a second that he could be wrong in his prediction before he dismissed it.

Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly ate breakfast and left the hall, heading to the bathroom on the second floor. Harry had brought along Callidus, who he had shown to Ron and Hermione.

"What kind of snake is he Harry?" asked Hermione curiously. "I don't recognize the type, and I did a project on them when I was ten. I looked up every single species."

Ron laughed at that. "You sure you shouldn't be in Ravenclaw?" Hermione didn't even answer; she just gave him a glare that would have made Lily Potter proud.

"The sorting hat obviously put me in Slytherin for a reason. It is never ever wrong. If I'm a muggleborn and it put me in Slytherin, then it has a very good reason. I don't know what it is though."

Ron saw that he wouldn't get anywhere with this argument, and changed the subject back to what they had originally been discussing. "So, Harry, what type of snake is Callidus." Callidus poked his head out of Harry's sleeve at hearing his name.

Harry just gave them a mysterious smile. "You'll find out soon." Neither Ron nor Hermione looked very happy at having to wait. They finally reached the bathroom.

The room was very shiny-probably the result of house elves cleaning the place, reflected Harry. It was a standard girl's bathroom, other than the one problem: it was haunted by Moaning Myrtle. The trio soon found out why she had earned that name.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a very high pitched voice. "This is a girl's bathroom. Only one of you is a girl, the other two are boys. OUT!"

"Myrtle," asked Harry, trying not to upset the fragile ghost. "How… how did you die?"

The ghost could not have looked more pleased. "Nobody has ever asked me that question before! For your information, I was crying in this very stall, when I heard a voice. It spoke out in a weird hissing language, one that didn't sound feminine. So I opened the door to tell him to go away-then I died. I saw a great big pair of yellow eyes by that sink."

Harry was surprised, though he really shouldn't be. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk, just like his very own Callidus. He supposed that it made sense. Salazar Slytherin was famous for talking to snakes, so why shouldn't the monster be the king of snakes.

"Thanks" he said quietly to Myrtle. Then he turned back to the sink, where Ron and Hermione were waiting. On second thought, arguing would be a more appropriate term.

"I've told you a million times that the house system is a very stupid system. It just creates unnecessary prejudices in the wizarding world. They should just split the classes randomly, therefore exposing the students to more cultures."

"Hermione, your muggleborn, not that that's a bad thing, but you don't understand what the houses mean to the wizarding world. Houses are what we fight for and how people are judged!"

"That's just my point-" Hermione tried to answer back.

"Enough." Harry cut in. The two looked startled to see him back from his visit with Myrtle. "Watch this. I think you will like being able to study an ancient myth first, before anyone else." With that, he turned back to the sink and studied it. The middle one, the one that he had been told didn't work, had an image of a large snake coiled up. 'Well,' Harry thought. 'It's worth a shot.'

$ _Open _$ he hissed. Ron and Hermione both jumped a bit, not used to Harry's hissing. If that didn't bother them, they would be soon.

The sink that he had hissed at started to collapse, creating an entrance into a long pipe.

$ _Stairs? _$ Harry asked hopefully. His wish was well received. A set of spiral stairs quietly slide into place, leading down into the darkness. With a glance at Ron and Hermione, he started to descend.

The tunnel got very dark and damp. Harry cast a Lumos charm and heard the others do the same behind him. After what seemed forever, Harry finally reached the bottom of the staircase. When he did, he was shocked into silence.

The entrance chamber was huge-at least twice the size of the great hall. It had collected a lot of slime over the years it had been here. Harry could see that there were numerous snake skins of varying sizes of snakes shed all over the place. There were places for lanterns every 5 feet, and some even floated in the air. At the back, Harry could just make out a blank platform that looked like it held something. He decided to investigate.

As he got around halfway, he heard Ron and Hermione finally make it down to the bottom, both of them puffing. He turned around.

"Hey slow pokes!" He taunted. "Hurry up, or I'll find everything first."

But when Ron and Hermione tried to enter the chamber, they couldn't. An invisible barrier held them back. Nobody could figure out why.

"It's okay, Harry. You go on ahead and explore the Chamber of Secrets. Ron and I will try to figure out how to disable the barrier." Hermione told him. Harry thought it was more likely that they would start debating about the Hogwarts house system then disable the barrier, but he really wanted to explore, so he nodded and turned around, heading for the blank platform.

Harry could tell that it was very old. 'Duh,' Harry thought to himself. 'Of course it's old. It's from the founders' time.' It was wet like the rest of the chamber, but not as wet. That made Harry wonder if it had an old spell on it. As he approached, he noticed that it was slightly cracked. Harry saw that it had strange markings on it, weird squiggles. What Harry thought was even more strange was that he knew exactly what they meant.

$ _Map?_ $ He asked uncertainly. Then, to his surprise, images started to appear on the stone. Slowly, it rose up and became three dimensional. Harry recognized it as Hogwarts.

Harry could see every single room in Hogwarts, along with the people walking around. He saw two older students in a broom closet, Malfoy in the Slytherin common room, Professor Snape making a potion and Dumbledore pacing in a room that Harry assumed to be his office.

'Wow,' Harry thought. 'Maybe it will zoom up on certain areas, or find certain people.'

$_ Percy Potter _$ He hissed. The map started to spin and turn everywhere, but when it stopped, Harry could see that his brother was in the common room along with his two followers/friends. He decided to try something else.

$ _The Chamber of Secrets. _$

Hogwarts faded, leaving a collection of passages that Harry assumed belonged to the chamber. He noticed one that said the tree room, the basilisk chamber, the library and the dueling room. Slytherin obviously put a lot of effort into his private retreat. Harry saw that the tree room was first, then the library. The passage then split into two. He could either go into the basilisk chamber or the dueling room.

$ _Callidus. _$ Harry said. $ _Get your lazy butt down here so I can un-enlarge you. _$ Harry put his arm to the ground as he started to feel his snake slithering off it. Callidus was grumbling. Harry thought that nowadays, all Callidus did was grumble and complain. It must be the idea that he's the king of snakes. With a flick of his wand and a quick 'Finite', Callidus was his normal 7 feet.

$ _Go scout ahead. Make sure there aren't any nasty surprises. _$ With a nod of his head, Callidus turned around and left. Grumbling again. Harry followed his beloved familiar. Seeing that he didn't run into any problems, he didn't stop. Soon, he found a door that he assumed led to the Tree room. Callidus hissed something to it and it opened. Harry quickly followed.

The Tree room was amazing. Harry didn't know where the light was from, but it looked like the walls were on fire. In the middle of the room was a concrete table, much like the one in the Entrance hall. As Harry approached the table, he could make out the words "Slytherin Family Tree."

Harry's heart started to race. Here, in his hands, was the list of people that were descendents of one of the most powerful wizards ever to live. He walked closer, eager to study it. Suddenly, Callidus stopped short, causing Harry to trip and fall painfully.

$ _What was that for? _$ He cried in pain, before looking down at his snake.

$ _I can't go any farther!$_Was the answer that Harry received. Now that he knew that, his snake did seem to be trying to move forward, but wasn't able to. 'Humph,' Harry thought. 'I don't have any problems moving forward. I wonder what's different.'

As Harry approached the table, he became painfully aware of the growing ache in his arm. He felt something wet trickling down his arm… his blood.

Harry watched as his blood trickled down and splashed onto the table, the table that he had just noticed didn't have anything written on it. Then, to his amazement, writing began to appear on the table.

The writing was green. Emerald green. Harry recognized the shape as a family tree. Then he made the connection. This must be Salazar Slytherin's family tree. It must've kept expanding over time, each time a new descendent was born. Harry studied the tree. The legend stated that the tree showed the name of the person, if they were muggle or magical, and if they were the descendent of any other witch or wizard.

Harry observed the very top, a portrait of Salazar Slytherin looking smug, but happy. Harry traced the lines down-then noted with surprises that there were two lines coming from him, not just one. Even more shocking was that one of them was green, while the other one was pale blue-the colour that represented muggle.

With growing interest, Harry traced the path of wizarding Slytherin descents. The name eventually changed to Gaunt, and the last descent was named _Tom Marvolo Riddle_, according to the tree. Harry noted that he wasn't dead. The other thing that he noticed was that Tom Riddle's mother had married a muggle! Harry decided not to question others choices and started to study the other side of the tree.

Harry looked as his hand traced the disowned squib's family. It appeared that he had kept the Slytherin name, despite being disowned. He smiled and waved from his portrait, looking happy beside his muggle wife. Slowly, he traced downwards, committing every name to memory. You never know when this knowledge would come in handy. As he reached the second last name, his hand froze. It said:

_Lily Marie Potter (nee Evans) 1960-Present, Witch_

His mother. His very own mother was a descendent from the Salazar Slytherin himself. The thought of that himself almost made him pass out. Then, Harry thought, if mother's a descendent, then what am I?

The answer to that question was too much for Harry. He fell gracelessly to the ground, dead to the world.

!#$%^&*

When Harry finally came to, he had come to except he was an heir to Slytherin. That was why his mother hadn't been very surprised when he had spoken Parseltongue in the garden. She had known. How, Harry didn't know, but she did.

Then it finally sunk in: HE WAS THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN, or one of them anyways. What did this mean? I explained a lot of strange happenings, that's for sure. The reason that Ron and Hermione couldn't enter the chamber was because it was blood sensitive. It also explained his parselmouth ability. He couldn't wait to tell his friends.

Harry turned around and started to run; now knowing that nothing in the chamber could harm him. After a few minutes of running, he finally reached the entrance hall, where Ron and Hermione had stopped arguing and were glaring at each other.

"Another stalemate?" he called out to them. This seemed to bring them out of there glaring war.

"She's just so stubborn Harry." Ron complained.

"It isn't my fault that Ron has no brains for anything other than history." Hermione shot right back. Harry just chuckled at the two of them-nothing could ruin his good mood.

"Let's go to the library." Harry suggested. "I need to figure out something before we can explore the chamber some more." Those words reminded Hermione where they were. Even Ron looked on in interest.

"What did you find Harry? What's the monster in the chamber of secrets? Did you find Salazar Slytherin's journals? I've heard they're hidden in some place sacred to him, so that could very well be right here. How big is the chamber? The magic down here must be really advanced for it to stay here for a thousand years. Did Slytherin really hate muggleborns? I think that it might be a rumour. How could someone hate muggleborns that much? If he did, why did he hate them?" Hermione said without taking a breath.

Harry just chuckled and told her to calm down, she would find out later. Not discouraged at all, Hermione continued to ask questions as they walked up the stairs. Harry just ignored her, but Ron hung on to her every word, trying to learn more about the history of Salazar Slytherin.

After a good ten minutes of walking, they finally reached the top. Harry closed the entrance, and the Slytherin trio walking out, heading towards the library.

However, they were as lucky as usual.

"That's a girl's bathroom. Trying to tell us something, Slimy Snake?" called out an annoying voice from behind. His comment was received with laughs from the other people. Harry, Ron and Hermione turned around, to see their twins laughing at them.

Harry just raised his eyebrow. Not even his brother could ruin his good mood. "Nope. I just decided to visit Moaning Myrtle. You never know when a friendly ghost could come in handy." The so called 'Golden Trio' just looked at him stupidly, while Harry mentally laughed.

"So you were getting all cozy with a ghost?" Ray Weasley asked, disgust and surprise in his voice. Harry just smirked like he knew something that Ray didn't, and without another word walked away. Then Percy did something that even Harry had thought he would never do.

"Don't you turn your back on me! I'm the Boy-Who-Lived! _Depulso._" Harry heard the last word and his eyes widened.

"Get down," he shouted to Ron and Hermione. They looked confused but did it anyway.

Just in time. A jet of red light passed over them, missing by a foot. Harry turned around, drawing himself to his full height.

"You dare to attack us when our back is turned? That seems like a rather Slytherin thing to do, don't you think? A true Gryffindor would attack while we had a chance to defend ourselves." Harry nearly shouted at his brother.

A part of Harry was surprised that his brother even knew that spell. It was a mediocre charms spell, designed to push whatever it hits. How far they go depends on the power that the caster puts into it and by judging Percy's green face, he had put more then he usually does. Harry and his friends had been really close to the stair case. If it had hit, they would've gone flying off-possibly even to death.

"It seems that Mr. Potter is right," came a silky voice out of the shadows. "Ten points from the house of lions." Professor Snape stepped into view.

"_Stupefy!_" The spell came from Hermione's twin Gabriel, directed at Snape. That just made him snap.

"Another forty points from Gryffindor and two weeks detention with me Ms. Granger." Without another word, he left. The two trios stood where they were, glaring for a full two minutes.

"Come on," Harry murmured to them. "Let's go to the library."

!#$%^&*

Much to Harry's frustration, he couldn't find anything about how to disable blood wards. He figured that since the ministry classifies blood magic as dark (despite the fact that it could save someone's life) they must be in the restricted section of the library, which he didn't have the permission to enter.

"Cant's find it." Harry said quietly to Ron and Hermione, who were reading _The War of the Wizarding World: Grindewald _and _Transfiguration: The Complete Explanation._ Ron looked up instantly, while Hermione slowly finished her paragraph before looking up.

"Find what?" Hermione asked. Harry looked around, before standing up.

"Follow me." The two exchanged a bewildered look before following Harry, who was so far away that they had to run to catch up.

"Where are we going Harry?" Ron puffed, while Harry just hummed thoughtfully.

Harry seemingly wondered around pointlessly for fifteen minutes before Ron and Hermione finally realized they were going in circles.

"Harry?" Hermione asked uncertainly. "Are you okay? Did something happen to you down in the chamber?"

Then Harry stopped so suddenly that Ron fell down. Once he got up, his jaw dropped in shock. A big white door had appeared in the middle of the wall that they had gone past three times already. Without even a glance at the two of them, Harry opened the door and held it open. Ron and Hermione walked inside.

Inside the door was a room around the size of the Slytherin common room. It was even green and silver. The fire was in the same place it was in the dungeons. The only difference was that there were a lot chairs, that looked even more comfortable then the real things.

Harry closed the door and turned around. "Sit down." He ordered.

Ron and Hermione quickly obeyed and waited expectantly.

"In the library," Harry said slowly. "I was looking for a way to undo the blood barrier in the chamber of secrets, the barrier that trapped you guys so you couldn't enter." 'There' Harry thought with satisfaction. 'That's a nice way to break it to them.'

Hermione got it first. She went from confused, to thoughtful, to awed, to shocked, and Harry even thought that he saw a flicker of fear on her face. Then she asked loudly, seeing that Ron didn't understand: "So how did you get in then?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. Then he whispered "Because I'm one of the two last remaining descendants from Salazar Slytherin." He was met by silence, but then again, what had he expected? He had only known the two of them for a week. Then the news sunk in.

Ron stared at Harry with his eyes wide and mouth open. Then he started to hyperventilate.

"How is that possible? Do you feel any different? How in the name of Merlin is that possible? There was a myth going around during the war that You-Know-Who was Slytherins heir, so how can you be a descendant also?" He asked in astonishment.

"In the chamber there's the room called the Tree room. It shows you the Slytherin family tree. I'm starting to wonder about the myth that Slytherin hated all muggleborns. In the tree, he had two children-one was a squib, the other a wizard. Slytherin did disown the squib, but the squib didn't look bothered. It was almost as if he disowned him just to keep reputation, but still loved both of his sons. By the way, I come from the squib line. My mother was the first magical person since Slytherin himself."

His two friends just looked on in shock. After all, how often is it that you find out that your friend is a descendant from Salazar Slytherin, the bad guy of all the Hogwarts founders' stories.

"So Harry," asked Hermione in a small voice. "What kind of snake do you have?" She sounded like she really didn't want to know the answer, but her curiosity got the better of her. Ron was still looking pale and incapable of speech. Callidus snuck his nose out of Harry's sleeve (he had been shrunken by Harry so he could carry him around again.)

"_Finite_" he said calmly. The snake's size quickly grew from a foot to 5 feet, as well as expanding a lot in thickness. "He's a basilisk." Harry said as he smirked in joy and started to laugh at both of their shocked looks.

However, that was just too much for Hary's friends. They both fell down in a dead faint. Harry noticed how they were on the same couch.

"Should I wake or move them?" Harry wondered out loud. Then he came to his answer. "Nah!" and left the Come and Go Room.

!#$%^&*

The last few months had passed quickly, Harry reflected. He had continued his research on how to cancel the blood ward that protected the Chamber of Secrets from unwanted visitors. He wasn't trying to completely destroy the ward; he was only trying to tweak it so Ron and Hermione could get through, not some other less desirable people…

Also, he had flown to the top of each class, but was always kept on the top of his game, since Ron and Hermione often liked to challenge that ranking. Ron and Hermione still argued a lot, much to his pleasure. In fact, they were going at it right now.

"Hermione," complained Ron. "I'm telling you that flying a broom isn't something you can learn from books. You're either a natural or just average. Occasionally there are some bad people who can't fly to save their life."

"Ron, as long as I know the theory of flying, I'm sure that I won't embarrass myself in front of all you purebloods. I am in Slytherin house, so Professor Snape would kill me if I embarrassed our house."

That made Ron pause for a second, since he knew that it was true. However, that's all she needed to speed up and reach their first flying lesson without any more arguments. The old coot had once again had the brilliant idea to place Slytherin and Gryffindors in the same lesson. Apparently last years incident of three Gryffindors and one Slytherin in the hospital wing had not done anything.

"Good morning class," Said Mme. Hooch as she walked in between the two lines, Gryffindors on one side, Slytherins on the other. The Golden trio had placed themselves as far away from them as possible, Harry noted with amusement. "In this class, I expect no misbehavior. A mistake while you're in the air could result in you death, and maybe someone else's." Seeing that she had the entire class's attention, she continued.

"Now put your hand over your broom and say 'up'." Everybody immediately complied with great enthusiasm. Harry noticed that Gabriel was trying especially hard, since this was something athletic. Harry's broom shot up without question, while Ron's came a bit slower and Hermione's barely left the ground at all.

"Come on Hermione," he coaxed her. "This world is magical. The broom can sense your fear. It won't go up to a rider who's afraid of it. You need to take control like you like to." Hermione took a deep breath and gathered her nerves, then shouted "UP."

The broomstick shot into her hand. "Yes!" She screamed, gaining lots of attention, while doing a fist pump.

"Quiet down now." Madame Hooch yelled. When she wasn't obeyed, she pulled out her wand and shot a big bang into the air. Everybody quieted down. When Madame Hooch was satisfied, she continued.

For the next five minutes, Madame Hooch explained how to grip the broom properly and how to get on without slipping off the end or hurting any parts of your body. Finally, after what seemed like forever to all the purebloods, it was time to fly.

"On my whistle: Three, Two-" But before Madame Hooch could blow her whistle, a Gryffindor that Harry thought was named Neville Longbottom, took to the air. Apparently Neville wasn't very good at flying, as his broom was out of control. Just before he was 20 feet off the ground, Neville slipped and dropped like a stone. The broom kept going and met the whomping willow. It reacted violently (what else did Harry expect) and smashed the broom to pieces.

Harry looked around to look at the different reactions that everyone had. Draco Malfoy was shamelessly pointing and laughing. His two goons had followed suit. Percy was also laughing, though not as loud as Malfoy was. Maybe he did have a sense of house loyalty. In all the commotion, Madame Hooch and Neville had disappeared to the hospital wing.

Malfoy stepped up to where Neville had fallen. "Hey look! It's the rememberall that his gran had sent him." He said with the worst sneer he could do. Harry thought that it really just made him look like a ferret.

Harry's twin didn't even hesitate. "Give it to me, Malfoy, or you're going to feel the wrath of the Boy-Who-Lived." He said threatingly.

Malfoy just smirked. "I don't think so, Loony Face. I think I'll leave it somewhere that Longbottom can find. How about on the school roof?" Malfoy took off, with Percy following shortly after. Nobody tried to stop either of them.

Harry could see that the two enemies exchanged words, but couldn't quite tell what they said. Percy said something that made Malfoy pale greatly, than throw away the rememberall. Having enough, Harry lazily summoned it to his hand, making sure with great care to use his wand and speak the words, even though he could do without. Harry knew that the charm was fourth year level, and there was no need to add to the rumours by doing it wandlessly and silently. He had just so happened to summon it right before Percy caught it. Less than three feet from the ground, Percy pulled up from his dive. Maybe he did have some skill, Harry admitted reluctantly.

Before anybody could say anything, a professor could be seen running as fast as he could, smirking like Christmas came early.

"Percy Potter." The professor said quietly, just for the dramatic effect. "We are in trouble."

!#$%^&*

Later that night, the Slytherins had a house meeting with their head of house. They got to spend twenty minutes of their night with a ranting professor. Apparently, instead of punishing Percy Potter, the headmaster had rewarded him for defending his housemate by putting him on the Quidditch team as a seeker. They were instructed not to inform the school that they had this information until it could be used to their advantage.

"Mr. Potter." Snape called as the meeting finished. "Come with me." Harry gave Ron and Hermione a bewildered glance, telling them that he had done nothing wrong that the Professor should know about, then got up and left.

Student and teacher walked in silence as they traveled to Snape's office. As they reached it, Professor Snape brought out a knife and cut himself onto a pad, then spoke some words. The wards approved of the entry, and they walked in.

Harry's first impression of his Potions Teachers office was that it was dull. A small potion was brewing in the corner, emitting purple fumes. A stone grey desk with a wooden cover on top to insure a smooth writing service was sitting at the back of the room, with just enough room for a chair to sit behind it. There were seven stacks of papers with baskets, one stack for each year if the labels were anything to go by. There was a fire that crackled quietly in the wall to the right of the door. Some dampness dripped off the ceiling, as it was a dungeon after all.

"Take a sit Mr. Potter." Professor Snape said as he conjured a chair for Harry, while sitting in the one behind his desk, moving some papers to the side. Harry politely waited for his superior to speak first. After five minutes of silence, his Professor finally spoke.

"Are you any good at Quidditch?" he asked Harry. Harry had not expected this question. He had flown before. He also liked Quidditch and knew the rules. However, he had never played it with anybody other then himself, so he couldn't really say his skill level. When Harry didn't answer, Snape continued, clearly wanting an answer.

"As much as it pains me to admit," (From the look on his face, it was extremely painful) "You're father was a decent Quidditch player. I just thought that you would've inherited some of his skills." Snape swallowed loudly, clearly having difficulty admitting that small thing.

Harry quickly figured out what this conversation was about. "You want me to play on the team to counter-act my brother." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," Snape agreed, happy that he had caught the subject of conversation so quickly. "I was-"

"I have no interest in playing Quidditch, sir."

That one sentence stopped Snape. The spawn of James Potter didn't want to play Quidditch? What kind of joke was this?

"However, I may be willing to… discuss if you could explain a question to me." Harry continued. His professor tensed up, not really knowing what to expect next from this enigma.

"Ask me your question, and I will see what I can do." Snape responded.

"If there was a blood ward that only allowed people with their blood to enter, how could you adjust it to allow people without their blood to enter?" Harry hadn't been able to find this answer anywhere, so he figured that it was something that the Ministry of Magic had deemed dark. It seemed that Harry was right, since his head of house paled.

Harry felt a jab at his mind. Deciding to just show his professor that he can do Occlumency, for he had practiced it and apparently was a natural in case his shields ever failed, he put out a maze of sharp spikes.

Professor Snape jerked his head back. "How do you know Occlumency?" he snarled. Harry just smiled at him.

"How I know it is my business. Perhaps if you told me some information, I would be willing to give you some things." Forever a Slytherin, Snape leaned forward, interested.

"What would you be willing to give me that I don't have?" He said, clearly doubting that an eleven year old first year could know something that he didn't.

Harry counted the three things that he would be willing to give his head of house. "I would play on the Quidditch team, show you something that is amazing (but I won't tell you what just yet), and I would sell you some basilisk venom… for an 80 percent discount." Snape's eyes widened at the last offer. His first instinct was to accept the deal, but his Slytherin mind made him think it over first.

Potter would play on his Quidditch team. He had never even seen the boy fly, but since he was a Potter in Slytherin, he would have to gamble that the boy could play. He wasn't sure about the second offer, but the third offer overrode any doubts. Then Snape started to really think. How in Merlin's name did the boy have access to basilisk venom? Snape took the time to study the boy, and realized that he was the one that had sold the venom over the summer. He would find out the answer to that later, he decided.

"Deal." He said, thinking that he could always go back on his deal like a true Slytherin if it was necessary. He was surprised that boy's expression didn't change at all. He just sat there like stone.

"I want a magical oath."

Snape's jaw wanted to drop, but only his training as a spy for both sides saved him. He was surprised that the child even knew what a magical oath was, let alone ask for one. Then Potter continued.

"I can't have you going all Slytherin on me and betraying me, can I? I just want an oath that will take away your magic for a month if you betray me." Snape's eyes calculated the risk, than nodded. The boy was only a boy, what could he do?

Harry watched as his Professor Snape said the words that sealed the oath.

"Now," Harry said, going right to business. "About modifying those blood wards?"

"You need a sample of any blood you want to add. Then you need to touch the tip of your wand to the blood, and then move it onto the ward. Then say 'I, Harry Potter, give permission to whoever you want to enter where ever it is.' Then they should be able to enter." Harry was surprised that the procedure was that easy. He had expected something more complicated.

"Thank you, sir."'

"You are dismissed." Harry turned, seeing that it was late and sprinted out the door.

"Harry Potter." Snape said softly to the empty air. "I believe Harry Evans would be a more appropriate name."

!#$%^&*

The rest of the week went by quickly for Harry. He went out for a secret Slytherin Quidditch practice, just with the captain (who looked like a troll) and found out that being able to catch the snitch in four minutes was good. He didn't know that. He also found out that his head of house had not asked the headmaster if he was allowed to play. Since Percy could play, why couldn't he. If the Gryffindors started to protest the game, they could just do the same thing for Percy.

Another great thing about Harry's week was that the Golden trio didn't bother him once. It was strange though, when he found them actually looking at books in the library. After they left the library, Harry wondered over to the section they were looking for and found the book. It was on magical animals. The extremely dangerous type. Why they would care about that was a mystery to Harry, not that he didn't care.

Harry received two letters in the mail that week, much to his pleasure. One was from his mother, and the other was from Ginny. He ripped open his mothers first.

_Dear Harry,_

_How was your first week? I heard from Percy that you were sorted into the Slytherin house. I have convinced your father not to disown you yet. I really don't care, so congratulations._

_I hope that you are keeping up with your school work, and not slacking off. Have you made any friends that I need to know about? I hope that you are enjoying yourself at Hogwarts. Have you learned anything new?_

_However, this is the most important question: Have you discovered the family gift? Percy isn't aware of the gift, so if you know it then don't tell him._

_I'll be at the school to watch Percy play in his first Quidditch match. Be prepared for your father to yell at you._

_Keep working hard and have fun._

_Lots of love_

_Lily Potter_

_P.S. If you understand these cryptic words, then write in our special language the next time you send me a letter._

Harry pushed the letter from his mother aside and picked up the letter from Ginny.

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm so glad for your letter and half surprised! None of my brothers would ever write to me; they'd find it embarrassing. So please forgive me if I didn't expect you to._

_So you got sorted into Slytherin? I've heard some really bad things about that house, but if you got sorted into it then the rumours must be exaggerated. You were the nicest person that I've ever met. All the other boys that I know think that I'm delicate just because I'm a girl!_

_Ray can have attitude problems a lot of the time. He's really lazy in everything other than playing Quidditch. Don't tell anyone, since I would get in trouble, but Ron's my favourite brother. He always plays with me and doesn't think I can do anything less than him unless it includes my age, not because I'm a delicate little girl!_

_Professor Snape isn't bad? That's just not possible! I've heard every single one of my brothers complain about him. However, my family is horrible at potions, so maybe that's why._

_It's boring here at the Burrow. It's just my mum and me, so I get bored easily. She is always getting me to cook, or knit, or do the laundry. All of the requirements to be a perfect pureblood lady. I hate it!_

_Well, mum's coming to find me again, and I probably shouldn't be caught writing a letter to you. It would not be proper for a young lady to communicate with a male (eye roll)._

_Your New Friend,_

_Ginny_

Harry put that letter down too, then saw Ron and Hermione look expectantly at him, wanting an explanation.

"Oh, they're just letters from my mum and Ginny." Harry told them.

"Ginny?" Ron asked. "A girl with chocolate brown eyes and flaming red hair?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "She's really cute too."

"That's my sister that you're talking about!" Ron said in a protest. Harry didn't even say anything more; he just picked up his stuff and started to head to charms class. Annoyed, Ron and Hermione followed.

!#$%^&*

"Well Potter," Said the Slytherin Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint. "You're a natural. You've got a spot on the team. No doubt about it."

Harry returned the comment with a smile that wasn't returned. The rest of the team quickly filed out of the change room, while Harry took his time. He decided that he would go for some joy riding. Wandlessly summoning his broom, Harry headed outside onto the Quidditch pitch.

He had been flying for half an hour when he saw three small figures leave the castle and head towards Hagrid's Hut. Once they arrived and went inside, Harry flew over a quietly as he could and landed on the roof.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" He heard Hagrid ask the trio. He then heard them shift uncomfortably, then a mumbled response that he couldn't make out.

"You are not to go looking below that trap door!" Hagrid all but yelled. "That's an object that only concerns Albus Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel." There was a moment of silence, and then Harry could see Percy, Ron and Gabriel running back towards the castle.

"I shouldn't of told them that." He could hear Hagrid mutter. "I shouldn't of told them that."

!#$%^&*

Draco Malfoy was angry. He was supposed to be the prince of Slytherin for all of his years at Hogwarts. Now a lot of the house hated him because of one person: Harry Potter.

How in the name of the Dark Lord did a Potter get into Slytherin? He was arrogant and idiotic, always flaunting his knowledge. He was clearly inferior to Draco, so why did everybody seem to look up to him, rather than the great one, the one that his father was the Dark Lord's most trusted lieutenant?

It didn't matter anymore. The boy might be able to talk to snakes, but he was Draco Malfoy. He would lie low, and then when it is least expected… strike.

!#$%^&*

The next day was Halloween; the ten year anniversary of the defeat of Voldemort, the terror of the magical world. Normally the feast at Hogwarts would last around two hours, starting at seven. However, this year it was still going strong at ten, even though the younger years were starting to fatigue a bit.

Then the doors opened, and the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher ran in. Immediately everything went silent.

"Troll!" He cried desperately. "Troll in the dungeon. Thought you'd want to know." Then fell over in a dead faint.

What happened next could be only described as chaos. People screamed, ran around and did whatever. Harry watched with amusement as Draco Malfoy developed a wet spot in between his legs.

"Silence!" The headmaster called. Even with him, it took a minute of two for everything to quiet down. "Prefects, please take your house back to your dormitories. Teachers, follow me." As everything got under control, Harry noticed three things.

One: Professor Snape snuck out the door, looking like he didn't want to be seen. Two: The Golden Trio was not following their house, it seemed like they had the brilliant idea to go combat the troll. Three: In all of the chaos, Professor Quirrell had disappeared.

"Look", he said to Ron and Hermione, pointing towards their siblings. "If we follow them, we might get some information on them." Ron nodded his consent, quickly followed by Hermione.

"I'm going to try to cast the disillusionment charm, but it's the first time that I've tried." He cast it, and felt his magical reserves go down greatly, but was pleased to see that it worked.

The three of them snuck out the great hall and followed the Golden Trio to the dungeons. As they turned the corner, they started to hear horrible screams. Then they saw why.

A twelve foot troll was towering over them. It had warts all over its body, along a sickly grey skin tint. Harry quickly dispelled the disillusionment charms, magically exhausted.

Harry rolled up his sleeve as the troll swept its hand, knocking Percy and his two friends to the side, unconscious. He let Callidus out and hissed $ _Finite Incantatem. _$

$ _Kill it, please.$_Callidus didn't even question the order. All he saw was a monster that was trying to threaten his master and friends. He slithered quickly, easily covering the gap and struck in five rapid secessions.

The troll let out a cry of pain, than its breathing started to get really heavy as the basilisk venom raced through its veins. Then, with one final desperate breath, it died.

"Harry, let's get out of here." Ron said. "The professors are coming." With a nod, they ran to their common rooms, but not before Harry had made it look like Percy had defeated the troll.

"Why did we do that again?" Hermione asked as they jogged. Harry smiled, and looked pretty scary in the gloomy light.

"Because now the three of them owe me a left debt, and don't know it."

!#$%^&*

Severus Snape walked up the stairs to the headmaster's office. Without even knocking, he opened the door.

"Ah, Severus. Just the man I wanted to see." Dumbledore greeted him.

"Save it. You just gave Gryffindor 50 points for something they didn't do." Snape was fuming. He had a pretty good idea of who had killed the troll, though he still didn't know where the boy got all of it. "The troll didn't die by getting a club smashed into the skull, levitated by a dunder head Gryffindor!"

Albus Dumbledore was actually surprised. He had thought that was what happened. "How did it die then?" he asked, not really wanting the answer.

"Basilisk Venom."

**And that's chapter three! I hope that you liked it, and will review. As always, please be polite in your reviews, and if you don't like it, then please don't be rude about it.**

**In the next Chapter will be the Quidditch match, exploring the chamber of secrets and maybe christmas.**


	5. Quidditch and the Chamber

**Thanks to all of the people who reviewed and added this story to their favourites/story alerts. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my new Beta, HP Slash Luv.**

Twin Trios

Chapter 4

All that anyone could ever talk about was how Percy Potter, always a hero, had single handily tackled the troll, without any help. Apparently his friends had been injured during the fight, heroically jumping in front of Percy when the troll took a swing at him. That's how they got injured.

Yeah, right.

Harry just shook his head at how gullible the population of Hogwarts was. They, like the rest of the wizarding world, would change their opinion about someone or something just because the rumour mill says something or because the Daily Prophet says something. However, Harry had more important things that he wanted to do: Today was the first Quidditch match against Gryffindor.

The Slytherins had spread the news that Percy Potter had been placed on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This was met with mixed reactions. However, much to the delight of Professor Snape, it had not leaked out that Harry Potter was playing for his house. Nobody other then Harry, Ron and Hermione and the rest of the house team knew that.

The entire hall was abuzz about that news. No one knew who the new Slytherin seeker was, not even the Slytherin house. The seventh year Terence Higgs, who had held the position last year, had not been given back the spot. He had been moved to chaser instead. Harry, though, did not hear any of this, since he was giving his potions professor his first payment.

"Here's some of the basilisk venom that our… agreement included, sir." He said as he pulled the vial out of his school bag. "I want 500 galleons by the weekend."

Professor Snape took the vial from his hands carefully, not wanting to break it. He examined it, and then dropped a piece of paper into it. The paper sizzled for less than a second, than burnt up. Satisfied, he put the vial on the desk.

"Well then," he said. Harry even thought that something that looked somewhat like a smile appeared on his face. "Go play Quidditch, Mr. Potter. Win, or else."

Harry seriously doubted that his head of house would do something to him if he lost, but wasn't really willing to risk it. With a curt nod, he left.

Harry continued on towards the kitchen, not wanting to go into the Great Hall. He was mauled by the house elves, and quickly ate his peanut butter sandwich. He heard the noise in the Great Hall get even louder, signaling that the school was starting to move out to the Quidditch pitch. Harry got up quickly, and started to run to the changing room.

However, that day wasn't Harry's lucky day, as he had been spotted by none other than James Potter.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" he yelled. "HOW DARE YOU GET SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN? YOU'RE A DARK WIZARD, JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM SNEAKY SNAKES. YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T DISOWN YOU…" Harry just tuned the rest of it out, and instead looked at his mother.

She had a disappointed look on her face, but her face didn't have a slightly red colour to it. Harry has noticed before that when she's truly disappointed about something; her face will turn slightly red. So Harry knew that the look was for show. Then Harry just calmly walked away.

Despite the stop, Harry was the first one on his team in the changing room. He grabbed his robes and was just finishing putting his robes on when Flint came in. Harry sat down and looked away as he grunted acknowledgement and started to change himself. Soon the rest of the team had arrived and they were ready for the pre-game pep talk.

"All right team. This is against Gryffindor. We don't win and the house will hate us until Christmas. We win and we'll be popular for a week. Now get out there!" 'Wow,' Harry thought. 'That was encouraging.'

Harry could hear the bias commentator, Lee Jordan, introducing the Gryffindor team, being especially enthusiastic when it came to Percy. Then he started to call out the Slytherin team, who were greeted by much booing.

"Captain Flint, Pucey, Higgs, Bletchley, Balkwood, Deville and the mystery seeker that no one knows about!" As the commentator said the last part, Harry flew out to join his teammates. He could see the visible shock on Percy's face.

"You?" He asked in disbelief. "You're no good for anything but slithering! Get back to the ground where you belong." Harry just smiled at him, which just irritated his twin even more.

"It appears that the new Slytherin seeker is a first year… just like the new Gryffindor one. I guess we can't really complain about that rule." He didn't add the _'Since we violated it ourselves_._'_ "It is Harry Potter, none other than the Slytherin twin of our very own Boy-Who-Lived."

Madame Hooch looked around at the fourteen players floating around in a circle. "I want a nice clean game, from all of you." She told them sternly. Harry could almost swear that she winked at him.

"And they're off!" Lee Jordan yelled into the microphone. "Gryffindor in possession! Bell, passes to Johnson, Johnson- but no! Flint steals the quaffle, you sure there wasn't any foul play ref? Flint passes to Pucey. Pucey to Flint. Flint to Higgs. Higgs shoots and… a spectacular save by Gryffindor keeper Oliver wood. Wood passes to Bell. Bell to Johnson, who goes to Spinnet. Spinnet shoots and scores! TEN TO NOTHING FOR GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry just rolled his eyes on his broomstick. It was so obvious that Lee Jordan was bias, and they still let him commentate. Professor McGonagall pretends to keep him in line, but all she really does is remind everybody else to hate Slytherin.

"How'd you get on the team, scar-head?" He heard Percy yell out to him as he drifted closer.

"Scar-head?" Harry asked, not impressed. To be honest, Harry was surprised that Percy even knew he had a scar on his forehead. "That's rich coming from you, scar-check." Having enough of his brother already, he decided to try out that new move he had read about: the Wronski Faint.

Harry pretended to focus on a spot close to the ground, than started to drift towards it. Percy thought that he had seen the snitch, and started to chase after him as fast as he could on his Nimbus 2000. Harry started to dive alongside him, making sure they were even. The rest of the game had stopped; nobody noticed that Marcus Flint seized the quaffle and scored eight times. Around five feet above the ground, Harry started to pull up, where Percy continued on, not realizing what happened.

The crowd let out a big "OOHH" as Percy Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived crashed straight into the ground. Oliver Wood was forced to call a time out, and had now noticed that Flint had scored eleven times while his attention had slipped.

As the Slytherin team silently gathered, they watched the Gryffindorks desperately talked. After two full minutes, Madame Hooch was forced to fly over and end their meeting. The game was on again.

"After that really sneaky, dirty move by the Slytherin seeker-" Jordan was quickly cut off by all of the booing Slytherins. It was common knowledge that the Wronski Feint was a completely legal move and would only work if the other seeker was watching you for the snitch. The Slytherins must've felt very strongly about this, considering they booed out the commentator.

Jordan decided to stop bashing the Slytherins (for now) and focus on the game.

"The Score is 110-10, in favour of Slytherin house." This was met by boos all around. At the beginning of the game, Harry had learned to tune out noises, such as Percy's fans, and in the case the other houses, wanting Slytherin to lose.

Then he saw it: the snitch. A flash of gold that was hovering below the Slytherin goal hoop. Harry sped as fast as he could. Percy hesitated for a costly second, thinking that it was another feint, but continued on after he realized that his Slytherin sibling had really seen the snitch.

Red and green raced side by side for the snitch. The only reason that Harry could keep up with his brother's superior broom was because he had made some adjustments to the broom he was riding. Totally illegal adjustments.

Harry felt his brother start to jerk around on his broom, before completely losing control. Harry stopped, keeping one eye on the snitch, to insure that he didn't lose track of it, and one eye on his brother.

Percy's broom was swinging rapidly. It was obvious that someone was tampering with it, because it hadn't been acting up before. Percy lost his grip and was flung off the broom, only staying up because he grabbed it with his left hand at the last second. When his Gryffindor teammates tried to help, it would only go farther away. Towards Harry.

"Please, Harry. Help!" His brother called. Harry could see panic in his eyes. Just as he was about to comply, he caught a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye. Then the question hit him: Percy or victory?

'_What had Percy ever done to help you?_' a rude voice in his mind whispered quietly. '_The great Boy-Who-Lived wouldn't help you, his Slytherin brother in a situation like this. So why should you help him?'_

Then Harry heard another train of thought: '_Just because he's never done anything for you, it doesn't mean you shouldn't be nice to him. Help him, Harry. Be the better man.'_

Harry was a bit creped out that he had heard voices in his head, but in the end he made his decision.

As Percy Potter started to lose his grip of his broom, the Slytherin seeker Harry Potter reached out and grabbed the snitch.

!#$%^&*

For the rest of the week, the entire school minus his own house gave Harry the evil eye, spreading rumours that he was a dark lord in the making. Even though Percy ended up being caught when he fell, it was well known that he had pleaded help to his twin and his twin had not given it.

In Slytherin, on the other hand, Harry held one of the top positions of power, probably tied with most of the seventh years and Draco Malfoy. Everywhere in the common room, he was constantly given pats on the back or high fives. Even Ron's blood-traitor status and Hermione's mudblood status were forgotten, merely because they associate with Harry.

While Harry enjoyed it, he was having a hard time sneaking off with his friends to explore the Chamber of Secrets now that he knew how to lower the barrier. This and also finishing his homework was trying to drive Harry crazy. It wasn't that the work was hard, it was just time consuming.

A full week past after the Quidditch match, and it was Saturday again, much to everyone's pleasure. As people walked to the Great Hall for breakfast, they could hear the birds singing, though it was not as loud as it was during the spring. They could also hear all the chatter that was happening in the Great Hall.

"Good morning," Hermione said to Ron and Harry brightly, clearly excited about something. When given a quizzical look by Harry, she just said. "It's a Saturday; we have nothing to do since we're done all our homework." Harry got the meaning of the message: She wanted to explore the Chamber of Secrets today.

The three of them walked to the Great Hall in silence. As soon as they entered, a great booing erupted from the Gryffindor table and was quickly countered by the cheering Slytherins. 'Honestly,' thought Harry. 'It's been a week since the match, and they still can't give it a rest? Besides, it's only Quidditch.'

As the Slytherin trio walked to the table, they were given spots right at the top. It was where they had been sitting for the last week. They sat down for breakfast and started to eat.

Just as Harry was finishing, he heard movement behind him. He looked up, and saw Professor Snape.

"Mr. Potter." He said quietly. "Please come to my office. We have some things to… discuss, do we not?"

Nodding his agreement, Harry finished his Pumpkin Juice. Then he turned to Ron and Hermione. "Meet me there." He said, knowing that they would understand. Much to the confusion of the people around them, Hermione tilted her head in acknowledgement. Then Harry turned and followed his head of house of the Great Hall doors.

Professor Snape led him all the way to his office, and then turned around with a bag that Harry assumed was money in his hand. Without a word, he handed it to Harry, who opened it to make sure he wasn't being ripped off.

POOF!

The bag exploded in Harry's face. It took Harry a moment to figure out that he had been tricked-his Professor had slipped something into the bag that he had been given. A minor explosion potion and probably something else, but he wasn't sure.

"So, Mr. Potter." Came a silky voice that he recognized. "How about we have a little practice duel... just to see where your dueling skills are." Harry thought that was a weird idea. The Professor was asking his first year student that shouldn't know any magic at all to duel him. That was pretty suspicious.

However, once Harry thought that, it was immediately overrode by another part of his brain. That part said that that was an excellent idea, and he should try his hardest.

"Okay." He agreed, not really knowing why he had said yes. Without another word, he bowed to his teacher, and his teacher did the same.

"_Expelliarmus._" He decided that he shouldn't try his hardest, and just stick to the simpler spells. As expected, he potions teacher blocked the spell with ease, and responded with a red stunning spell, which Harry calmly side stepped.

"_Experlliarmus,_" said Harry again. This time he had expected his teacher to dodge, as he had put a bit more power into the spell. True to his prediction, his potions professor moved out of the way. However, unfortunately for him, he had forgotten that he had been standing in front of the cabinet that stored a bunch of his potions.

As Harry's spell came into contact with the potions, a big cloud of pink dust exploded Professor Snape's face, causing him to let his guard down, leaving him vulnerable to the first year student. While he coughed, trying to clear his lungs, Harry disarmed him.

"You really shouldn't have done that, Professor," Harry hissed, reminding Snape of another person that he had heard so long ago. "Especially when you under estimate the opponent, no matter the age or how much experience you think they have. That's something that a lowly death eater would do." Snape flinched like he had been slapped. 'Being called a Death Eater must've hurt', thought Harry, than filed that information away for later usage.

Without another word, Harry turned and ran from the room. He ran up the stairs, past the Great Hall, and all the way to the floor where his friends were waiting. His thoughts were racing a thousand miles per hour.

His potions professor had just slipped a persuasion potion into that bag, than purposely made it explode. Was it on Dumbledore's orders, to see how skilled he was in the dark arts, since the old coot would think that just because he was sorted into Slytherin, he was going dark?

Or perhaps Snape had just wanted to beat up a student to vent his own anger and frustration that was going on in his life. He had just so happened to pick the son of someone that Harry knew he hates. That's pretty convenient.

To make matters even worse, Professor Snape hadn't even given him all of the money that was due. He had given him 250 galleons, but had been owed 500.

Taking a deep breath, though he wasn't sure what that would do when it looked like he had just been in a fight, he opened the bathroom door.

Ron and Hermione were talking quietly for once. They weren't arguing, and they weren't yelling. At the noise of the door opening, Hermione looked up and quickly became alarmed.

"Harry, what happened?" she asked once she saw how beat up he looked. "You didn't beat up Percy, did you?" She added in an accusing tone. Harry just raised an eyebrow, and snorted amusingly.

"No, though that's not a bad idea now that you mention it." He responded teasingly, although Hermione couldn't tell that he was kidding, so she looked like she was about to go and start to lecture him-and Hermione had dreadfully boring lectures.

"I was just kidding!" Harry said before she started, and she visibly relaxed. "No it was something else. To get the information to get you guys into the chamber, I had to strike a deal with someone. I would play for the Slytherin Quidditch team, I said I would bring him to a secret place, and he would get basilisk venom at a discounted price, even though he still doesn't know how I get it, though he may start to get his suspicions. In return, he gave me the knowledge about how to modify blood wards."

"Are you crazy, mate!" Ron exclaimed. "You're bargaining with Severus Snape. He was a known member of the Order of the Phoenix, and a known Death Eater. Nobody really knows what side he was on. It's really risky if the war starts up again. You would never know where his true allegiance lay." Hermione was confused at what Ron had said and Harry was surprised at that information. Hermione was confused about what a Death Eater was, though she didn't ask, sensing that the moment was not appropriate, and Harry was surprised that Ron knew that information.

"It doesn't matter." Harry said. "I made him swear a magical oath. But anyways, enough of this stalling. We have a thousand year old chamber to explore."

$ _Open, Stairs _$ Harry hissed. The two orders were quickly answered and obeyed. Harry, Ron and Hermione ran down the stairs.

"That's a really long run." Said Ron as the trio reached the bottom. All three of them were huffing and puffing, with red faces.

"Not really," Harry said in between breathes. "We're just very out of shape. Maybe we should start to run around the Quidditch pitch in the morning."

Hermione paused, and after a deep breath she spoke. "That would be a really good idea. Did you know that physical exercise increases your life span?" Harry said yes, he did know that at the same time that Ron said no, he didn't know that. The three friends looked at each other and burst out laughing.

When they had calmed down, Harry brought out two knifes that he had scooped from the kitchens, and gave them to Ron and Hermione. They cut their hands, and blood came flowing into the container that Harry had been holding underneath. Then Harry walked past the ward and turned.

He pulled out his wand (which he still didn't know what core it had) and touched the tip to the vial with Ron's blood in it. Then he waved it in the air, looking for where the actual ward was. When he finally found it, he attempted to wipe his wand on it. Surprisingly, it worked. Then he spoke.

"I, Harry Potter, give permission to Ronald Weasley to enter the Chamber of Secrets." There was a flash of light, and Ron gave out a grunt of pain. Then it stopped, and Harry assumed that it worked. Ron approached the ward, but just before he crossed, a hand reached out to stop him.

"Can we go together the first time?" Hermione asked him pleadingly. Ron stopped walking, than looked expectantly at Harry, giving him a look that plainly said to hurry up.

Harry did the same procedure with his wand and Hermione's blood as he had done with Ron's, then spoke the magic words.

"I, Harry Potter, give permission to Hermione Granger to enter the Chamber of Secrets." Again, there was a flash and Hermione let out a cry of pain, and then was fine. Ron offered his hand to her, which to Harry's surprise, she took and together, they walked into the Chamber of Secrets for the first time.

!#$%^&*

Ron and Hermione could just stare in wonder as their friend gave them a guided tour of the Chamber of Secrets, or as much of a tour as he could when he had only been down there once.

"We are about to enter the Tree Room." Harry announced to his tour group in a narration voice. "This is the place where a complete set of data about Slytherin and people that were descendant from him is available. Please do not touch, as I am still not sure of the protections on it."

With that Harry hissed open, and led his two companions across the thrush hold. He heard Hermione gasp behind him, from what he presumed to be the beauty of the room. He felt his friends gaze in wonder, then following Harry, approached the table that had the family tree on it. He pointed to where his mom's name was, than looked at them expectantly, just to be treated by blank looks.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"I don't see anything mate." Ron told him. "All I see is random lines."

"Oh." Harry thought for a moment, than it dawned on him. "It must be how parseltongue is written. Slytherin wouldn't want just anyone that was able to get into the chamber, even bi-pass the blood wards, to be able to read his tree-it's private. I'll try to look up a translation spell that will help. I have a feeling that a lot, if not all of the chamber will be in parseltongue."

Harry walked to the entrance to the next door, and turned around before opening it. "This is the end of the guided tour. Now I'm exploring too." He said with a lopsided grin. Then he turned around and opened the door that led into the library.

He should've told Hermione that the library was next, because her squeal of delight was something that a person could only hear so many times before going deaf. Harry was pretty sure that he was half way there already.

In the library of Salazar Slytherin, there were a lot of books. They were all neatly labeled in Parseltongue: Charms, Defense, Dark Arts, Transfiguration and a few others. One of the ones that caught Harry's eye was the section that had around ten books in it, and was labeled _my life_. Deciding that he could come back later and read, he turned around.

"What does all this say, Harry?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"There are pretty much just normal subjects." He said, not really wanting to share that a personal journal if a Hogwarts founders lay two feet to her right. "If I have some time, I could probably try to translate them for you." He offered. The shining look in Hermione's eyes was all the answer that he needed.

The trio continued deeper into the Chamber of Secrets. The next door led to a passage that split into two different tunnels.

"Okay." Harry said, turning to his friends. "We can go to the basilisk chamber, or the dueling room. Any choices?" They both shook their head, just wanting to explore. "Okay then. We'll go to the basilisk room first then."

As they entered the room, Harry noticed that it was darker than the other rooms.

$ _Lights _$ He hissed. As the room lit up, he let Callidus off his arm, where he had been waiting patiently for a moment where he was needed. $ _I need you to scout for us. Find where the basilisk is, and if it's awake. If it's asleep, then come back and tell me. _$

$ _No need for that, Harry. _$ Callidus hissed as he flickered his tongue, tasting the air. How does he talk and taste at the same time, Harry wondered. $_ I can tell you right now that the snake is asleep, though it has been woken since Salazar Slytherin left it. Probably around 45 to 60 years ago. _$ The news shocked Harry, and he didn't like it one bit.

Who else had discovered the chamber? It must've been a Slytherin descendant, since no one else could control the basilisk. He would have to check in the Tree room later to see if any descendants lived in the early-mid nineteen hundreds.

"Shut your eyes, just in case." Harry instructed his friends. "Callidus says that the basilisk is asleep, but someone has awakened it in the last 45 forty-five to sixty years. I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to control it, but we can't be too cautious."

Then for the first time, Harry got a real good look at the basilisk room. The room was massive, with the same eerie glow that the rest of the chamber had. Heads of snakes surrounded the room. Some of them were rearing, ready to strike, while others were just watching. The walls had moss growing over it. At the far side of the room, Harry could see a statue of an old man with a long flowing white beard.

It was his ancestor, one of the most known Dark Lords of all time: Salazar Slytherin.

"Well," Ron said in an awed voice. "He's really old!" Harry and Hermione sniggered at that comment. However, Ron wasn't wrong. Their founder looked ancient in the statue. Then sense caught up with Harry.

"I doubt that's him. He probably did that so people thought it was him, while it is probably some random person."

Ron and Hermione couldn't answer, still stunned by the beauty of the chamber.

"I'm going to leave Callidus in this room so he can explore. We don't want to run into anything dangerous, do we?" The other two nodded.

"Let's backtrack and see the dueling room. Maybe we'll be able to practice our fighting in there." With the thought of practicing his dueling, Harry thought back to earlier, when he had been tricked by Professor Snape. Just the thought of it made Harry clench his fists in anger.

"Harry," Hermione asked. "Why do we need to practice fighting?" She said those words with naivety that only a muggleborn could have. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know, but it was still painfully obvious that if she were pureblood she would know the answer to that question.

"Hermione, you don't really believe that Lord Voldemort was killed on Halloween, do you? His power was broken, yes, but only the ministry and the very optimistic wizards believe that he's really gone. Before he fell, there had been rumours of him being immortal. A lot of people thought they were true. Besides, I figure that he has some sort of connection to the Death Eaters through their dark marks. If something happens to him, I bet you something also happens to the loyal followers." He could tell by her inquisitive expression that she didn't understand some of the things that he had said.

"What are Death Eaters and Dark Marks? You keep mentioning those. Also, how do you know all this?"

"Death Eaters are wizards with a few witches that serve him. Think of it as selling their soul to him. They must come when they are summoned, and must do what he asks without question. His Death Eaters are branded with the Dark Mark, sort of like how a farmer would brand cattle. It's a sick combination of a skull and a snake." Harry replied.

"Then when the ministry was capturing Death Eaters, why didn't they just check the suspects for having a Dark Mark?" She asked. This time it was Ron who spoke up.

"Do you really think that Voldemort was that stupid? The man was a Dark Lord that terrorized the wizarding world for a decade. He was no idiot. The mark could only be seen by other Death Eaters. The only time that non-death eater could see it is when he was summoning them."

Hermione looked like she was deep in thought. Finally, she was satisfied with the answers that her friends had given her. But she still wasn't done. "How do you know all this?"

Harry and Ron exchanged looks, thinking it was probably for the same reason.

"When you're young and nobody in your family thinks your good for anything, they force you to do chores and stuff around the house. Sometimes, if you do them quietly and consistently, they'll forget that you're even in the room and let some information slip." Harry told her, Ron nodding his head. He had obviously been treated the same as Harry as a child, or close. It was probably worse for Ron though, because he didn't have anyone taking care of him, while Harry had his mother.

Hermione was quiet, than understood what Harry was implying. "You were both abused when you were younger?" She shrieked, her voice going so high that the two boys had to cover their ears.

"Not quite!" Ron denied. "Not physically anyway. My brothers would just never include me in whatever they were doing. It could be Quidditch, or some other fun thing. If I asked my parents to make them let me play, I would be sent to the shed in the backyard for three days with no food." Hermione looked horrified, than looked at Harry, wanting to know his reasons.

While Ron had been explaining what his childhood had been like to Hermione, Harry had been thinking of what his had been like. Shouted at when Percy broke his toys, starved if he showed his face while there were guests in the mansion, and given less than half a plate of food when he was lucky. But that all changed when his mother had broken the spell that Professor Dumbledore had placed on her.

Just before she had broken it, Harry had found some Dark Arts books. He had read them, and was planning on finding more so he could practice the Dark Arts when he got older, but the love that his mother had for him had caused him to stop. Harry wasn't going to kid himself: He knew he was powerful, and if he had continued to study the Dark Arts, there was a very real possibility that the wizarding world have had another Dark Lord to deal with.

But his mother had saved him from that. She had showed that she cared about him, despite the fact that his father, brother and even his godfather didn't care about him. She would always secretly slip him her old Hogwarts books when his father wasn't looking, knowing that he loved learning about new things. She would spend time with him, when she wasn't playing the perfect Gryffindor wife.

He started to pay attention to his friends again, and saw they were looking expectantly at him.

"What?" He asked. Then he realized that Hermione wanted to know how he was abused, or mistreated, as he preferred to call it. "Let's go explore the dueling room." He said curtly.

"But-" Hermione started to protest before Ron put his hand on her arm, silencing her. He knew that a lot of people that had a difficult home life didn't like to talk about it, and Harry was obviously one of those people.

In silence, the Slytherin trio walked back to where the tunnels split, and entered the dueling room.

In the middle of the room there was a blue platform that looked around the size of a Quidditch pitch. It was obviously the dueling platform. On the other side, there were a bunch of switches that were written it parseltongue. Harry couldn't make it out because of the distance. The stone walls had a faint glow to them, different from the glow in the other rooms. This glow looked more magical.

"Well," said Harry, not really wanting to continue to explore the chamber with his friends. He would do it alone later. Alone, like he had been for almost his entire life. He still didn't know how to deal with having friends his age. "That's the Chamber of Secrets. Let's go back to the common room."

!#$%^&*

Back in the Slytherin common room, Harry realized that they had been down in the chamber for almost the whole day, just arriving to the common room ten minutes before dinner time. The trio parted ways, Ron and Harry going to the boy's dorm while Hermione went off to the girls. They silently had a shower and got changed, going to the Great Hall.

For the first time in weeks, Harry managed to sneak into the Great Hall without three quarters of the hall breaking out in a chorus of boos. He calmly sat down with Ron at an isolated part of the table, where they were joined by Hermione within a minute.

"So what do we want to do tonight?" asked Hermione, but before Harry or Ron could answer, a shadow appeared behind them.

"Here is the rest of your… payment, Mr. Potter." Professor Snape said lowly. Harry accepted the money without acknowledging his professor. After waiting for a response for a minute, Professor Snape left.

"That reminds me," Ron said. "You never did say what had made you so upset when you came into the bathroom earlier." Harry looked at him startled. He had not expected Ron to remember that. He wouldn't have been surprised if Hermione had recalled it, but not Ron.

"_Muffliato_," Harry said. When he saw Hermione looking at him, bursting with a question he said, "It's a spell that mother sometimes uses when she just wants it to be her and I talking, without any interference, or anyone interrupting. All it does is cause the people nearby to have a buzzing noise in their ears."

"So?" Ron repeated. "What made you so upset?"

"When I went to Professor Snape's office, it was so he could pay me for the basilisk venom that I had sold him. Knowing him to be a Slytherin and rip me off, I checked to make sure that he had given me the proper amount. I think he had expected me to do so, because he had drugged it with a persuasion potion, and then persuaded me to have a duel with him." Understanding slowly came onto Hermione's face.

"Were you upset about losing?" she asked sympathetically. Harry looked at her and said five words.

"I didn't lose. I won." Both Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped in shock. Neither of them had expected their friend to be able to beat a teacher in a duel.

"How?" Ron asked.

"It wasn't hard." Harry admitted. "He really underestimated me, and I used the environment to my advantage. He kept trying to make me do my best, though my mind was strong enough not to comply. All I did was send a disarming charm, which he dodged. Because he dodged it, it collided with a potions cabinet, which exploded, allowing me to disarm him. Now, I don't want to talk about it. I already have some revenge planned out…" Harry said the last part with an evil smile.

"Harry?" Hermione said with a bit of fear in her voice. "What are you planning to do?"

"Have you ever done a prank?"

!#$%^&*

The next morning, saw Professor Snape storm into the Great Hall, his hair dripping wet. The Gryffindor house burst out laughing at the sight of their least favourite professor being pranked, and immediately went to congratulate Fred and George. Fred and George just looked on in confusion, and told their housemates that they didn't do that.

"DUMBLEDORE!" shouted Snape angrily. "Who did this?"

The headmaster just looked on, amused. "Why, Professor Snape, I have no clue who could've done that to you. May I ask what has happened?"

The students could see the two exchange some words, then have Snape storm even more angrily to his chair and sit down. The rest of breakfast passed quietly, although most of the school was happy that someone had pranked the most hated teacher. Nobody noticed three Slytherins exchanging high fives, and looking on with even more anticipation.

"MR. AND MR. WEASLEY!" Roared an angry voice, who the students quickly identified as Snape. "DENTENTION FOR A WEEK AND FIFTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR."

"But Professor, we didn't do it!" They protested in unison. Then the Great Hall burst out laughing. Even a lot of the Slytherins had to try hard not to laugh, and some of them failed.

Professor Snape was stuck to his chair. He could be seen waving his wand at it, but nothing was happening, not even when he casted Finite Incantatem. "IF I EVER FIND OUT WHO DID THIS, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE EXPELLED!" He shouted angrily.

!#$%^&*

Nobody could get the chair off Professor Snape. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched with satisfaction as Madame Pomfrey, Professor Dumbledore and all of the teachers tried to take it off, but nobody could. Harry suspected Dumbledore knew who did it, and how, but was just letting Snape hang in there. It turned out he was correct, as Snape showed up to the Great Hall Monday chair free.

That evening in the common room, Ron and Hermione worked on their potions essay, while Harry worked on his letters.

"You really should be working on potions Harry." Hermione said.

"I'm done with it. In fact, I've done all of the homework. Hogwarts is supposed to be the best school in Europe, but it's just so easy for me." Hermione didn't even answer, so Harry went back to writing his letters to his mother and Ginny.

_Dear Ginny,_

_How are you? I'm glad that you wrote back. By the way, Ron says you're his favourite sister._

_Just in case you haven't heard, I'm playing on the Slytherin Quidditch team! We beat Gryffindor 300-10! I caught the snitch before Percy did._

_I'm glad to know that you didn't adjust your opinion of me just because I was sorted into Slytherin. Who knows what house you'll be sorted into? Maybe you'll be a Slytherin with me next year? I know that I would like that for sure. In Slytherin, there isn't such a thing as delicate girls. Well, actually there is, but those are just the purebloods who think that women have to grow up and be a good housewife._

_Professor Snape is an interesting teacher. He really knows his subject, but he is horrible at explaining things in potions, like what ingredients mix well with other ingredients. Of course, my mother was excellent at potions, and I've inherited her skills, so I don't struggle. However, I do help Ron two or three times a week._

_I'm sorry to hear that you're bored at home without your family. I've sent you a book with this letter, so make sure you study it hard. Remember, always try to form your own opinions, not just the opinions of books. That's what Hermione used to do, and still does often, though Ron and I are trying to make her break that habit._

_Hope you enjoy your time at home, and try not to get dragged into your mother's schemes,_

_Harry James Potter_

_P.S. I hope you like your Christmas present._

Satisfied with the letter, Harry turned to his other sheet of parchment and started on his letter to his mother.

$ _Dear Mother _$ He wrote in parseltounge.

$ _How are you? Is the house much more quiet and peaceful now that Percy isn't there twenty four/seven?_

_I found the Chamber of Secrets. I would have never guessed that you are a descendant from Salazar Slytherin himself! Does that mean that I'm the heir of Slytherin? Did you ever find the chamber, or did you find out our ancestry in another way?_

_Percy is being difficult ever since the Quidditch match. I know for a fact that if I was being attacked, and I was the rival seeker, Percy wouldn't have helped me. Nobody seems to want to accept that fact._

_Love,_

_Harry_

_P.S. I won't be coming home for Christmas, but I will send you a present. _$

"I'm going to go send these letters," he told Ron and Hermione, who just absentmindedly nodded their consent. He walked out of the common room and to the Owlery, where he used two school owls and sent them their separate ways.

!#$%^&*

When Christmas break arrived for Harry, he was the only Slytherin that was staying at Hogwarts, a fact that Malfoy enjoyed taunting him about. That is, until Harry glared at him and smiled evilly, reminding Malfoy of his secret. A first year named Nott swore that he wet his pants one day.

Ron had been forced to go home for the holidays. In public, it looked like he didn't care, and when it was just Harry and Ron, he would tell Harry that he would be lucky to get any food for the holiday. Harry just shook his head and told Ron that he would send him food, plus his gift.

Hermione, on the other hand, had been slightly hesitant to go home, where Gabriel was, but in the end realized that she missed her parents and wanted to see them.

Harry woke up on Christmas morning at ten. He was sure that if Ron had stayed, he would've been up at least three hours earlier, opening up presents. Speaking of presents…

At the bottom of Harry's bed was a pile of presents. He quickly got out of bed and started to open them.

When Harry was done, he had received a book on rare potions called _Unthinkable Potions _from Hermione, a box a chocolate frogs from Ron and a wand holster from his mother. Then there was only one present left. Harry looked at the tag and found out that it was from Ginny.

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope you like your present. You better, because I had to fight hard just to be able to knit this._

Harry opened the package, and learned that Ginny had knit him a hat. It looked very warm, and had the Slytherin colours of green and silver. That must've been why she had had to fight just to be able to make it.

Happy with this year's gifts, Harry got out of bed and took a shower. He then went to breakfast, where he got to eat in peace, as he was the only remaining Slytherin at Hogwarts. In fact, there were only 20 other people at Hogwarts, and a lot of them were seventh and sixth years that were studying for their NEWTs.

The rest of the holidays went by fast for Harry. Percy had gone home, so there was no one to make fun of him. He practiced things that didn't matter, like Quidditch and seeing how accurately he could throw a snow ball. He also practiced more serious things, like the summoning charm and stunning wandlessly and non-verbally. Both of those spells were fourth year material, and doing them non-verbally was incredibly advanced, let alone doing it wandlessly.

!#$%^&*

A mysterious stranger crept around the corner of the corridor. The person took out their wand and cast a spell of the door, which then clicked open. Inside, he was met by a three headed dog, and it wasn't happy about being kept inside all day.

The stranger then retreated, but not before it cast an alarm charm on the door. The charm would allow the stranger to know if someone ever entered the door, and it would last until the end of the year. He would be long gone before the end of the year.

Also, before the end of the year, the boy would be dead. It was a tough decision, which boy to kill. Should he kill the one that everybody thought was the defeater of the greatest wizard of all time to get down their moral, or should he kill the real one that had broken his master's power, the one that everybody hated, and that's only if they even know he existed.

'Choices, choices' the stranger thought, before he opened the door that would lead him back to his mansion, which is where everyone thought he was. 'Tough choices.'

In the Slytherin dungeons, Harry Potter woke with a start, wondering why he had dreamt about a stranger looking at a three headed dog.

**So that's the new chapter! I hope you guys like it. Don't forget to review if you do, but if you absolutely hate it, then don't bother reviewing, unless to give me some constructive criticism.**


	6. The Library

**I'm sorry about the delay… better late than never, right? Haha, that's what the person who writes Carpe Diem said when they updated a few days ago… after two years...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my Beta, (who I can't really call new anymore) HP Slash Luv.**

Twin Trios

Chapter 5

After all of the students came back from the holidays, Harry's peace and quiet was over. Over the holidays, he had become accustomed to the quiet while eating breakfast. Now that was all over, and he had to share his table again. To make matters worse, it actually was his table- The Slytherin table.

Harry listened to the chatter that broke the Great Hall's silence. All around he could see couples reuniting with a kiss, friends with a hug and some people just chatted. He watched as his brother was hugged by Gabriel, in which he responded with a push, not wanting the contact with a girl. He spotted Ron's red hair and Hermione's bushy brown, and then waved them over.

"How were your holidays?" He asked them, and then waved his wand, while non-verbally casting Muffliato.

"They were horrible!" Ron said at the same time that Hermione said "They were pretty good."

"One at a time please," he said. Ron started first.

"My family was horrible! When we got home, Ray started to tell them a bunch of lies about things I've done to the Gryffindors at school! The punishment was no food for all of the holidays, and if presents weren't magically delivered, I bet they would've taken them too so I wouldn't of got any! Actually, thanks for the present Harry. You too Hermione." Ron said in one big breath. Harry and Hermione just stared at him. Harry because he had thought that his punishments were bad and Hermione because she was horrified that someone could do that to their own flesh and bone.

"Well," Said Hermione, with one last uncertain look at Ron. "Right after I got home for the holidays, my parents sat Gabriel and me down for a talk. They had noticed that we hadn't been talking during the whole ride home. My parents are bright people, so they figured out that we had had some sort of fight. After some discussion, we agreed to peacefully ignore each other for the holidays. So we did, and it was a great holiday."

"You peacefully lived in the same house as Gabriel for a full two weeks?" Harry asked in disbelief. "You have much more tolerance of Gryffindors then I do. I would be struggling not to hex Percy in less than two hours!" Hermione tried not to smile at the compliment.

Just then, the food for dinner appeared. Ron started to drool and immediately stopped paying attention to the conversation that was going on and grabbed some roast beef. Rolling their eyes in mutual agreement, Harry and Hermione started in on the food too, before Ron ate it all.

After dinner, Harry, Ron and Hermione slowly strolled back to the common room. Harry didn't even know what the password was, but he didn't need it. He had discovered that during the holidays, when the prefects had changed it and forgotten to tell him. Actually, Harry figured that they purposely didn't tell him, hoping that he would be stuck outside the common room for the holidays. But instead, the situation allowed Harry to discover a new way to get into the room.

"Harry, Ron?" Hermione said. "We don't know the password." She was a bit surprised when Harry didn't even blink, though Ron's face turned thoughtful, thinking it was a problem.

"The solution to that is simple and easy, Hermione." Harry said as he checked to make sure that nobody other then the three of them was around. Seeing that they were alone, he hissed $ _Open _$ while placing his hand on the stone that hide the snake nest. The stones opened and the trio walked inside.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked with awe as they sat down it green chairs around a table. She had thought it was impossible to enter the common room without the password. It said so in _Hogwarts, a History_.

"It's part of my special privileges." Harry answered back, as he absently mindedly put with the customary privacy spells. A moment of confusion showed on Hermione's face, but it was quickly cleared up with understanding. Ron wasn't even paying attention.

"Hey! Ron mate, you paying attention here?" Harry questioned while snapping his finger in front of his face, shocking Ron out of his thoughtful expression.

"Sorry, I was thinking." He said apologetically. That got two different reactions.

Harry said "I knew that, that's why your face was thoughtful." And at the same time Hermione blurted out "You can think?" Ron wasn't sure if he should look embarrassed for stating the obvious, or insulted at Hermione's comment. So he was stuck in between. The expression that he had on his face was just too much for Harry, who stifled a laugh before he couldn't hold it in any longer and he burst out laughing. Soon the three of them were laughing.

Once they had calmed down, Harry asked Ron what he was thinking about.

"Oh." Ron said. "I was thinking, if you can open the Slytherin common room like you just did, could you open the other common rooms in the castle. It's obvious that you can do it to the Slytherin common room, due to your heritage, but perhaps the founders made it so you could go into all the rooms. Just think of the things we could do to the Gryffindorks!"

Hermione looked like she couldn't decide to approve of their discussion, or get angry at them. So she decided for the next best thing.

"I'm going to bed." She told them, and then walked quickly to the girl's dorm.

"What's her problem?" Ron asked Harry, after she had gone. "It's not like we had done anything. Besides, we don't even know if you can get into the common room."

"I'm not sure how much she likes pranking other people." Harry said glumly. He then brightened up. "So, want to see tomorrow if we can get into the common room?"

!#$%^&*

It turned out that Harry and Ron could not get into the common room, as it turned out that the Gryffindor common room is guarded by a portrait. Harry and Ron had followed some Gryffindors who had been talking loudly about forgetting a Charms book in the dorm. They were lead to a portrait that was called the Fat Lady, an ugly fat woman who wore a pink dress. Since she was a portrait, she knew who was and who wasn't a Gryffindor. Therefore even if they had the password, she would still be able to deny them entry. A bit put out, Harry and Ron went to breakfast.

"I hope you didn't do anything foolish." Those were the greeting words that Hermione said to the two of them. Nice to know she had so much confidence in Harry and Ron. However, seeing them disappointed must've been a good sign for her, as she relaxed. "So what do you think Snape's going to have for us to brew today?"

As the trio slipped into an easy conversation about what the school's most hated teacher would have them do, and most of the class would fail, they ate breakfast and then went to Potions.

After an hour of their head of house telling their classmates how stupid they were, along with letting the class know how "Well and precisely Draco cuts his roots" and the occasional compliment to Harry, they were finally let free. Professor Snape preferred to just ignore Ron and Hermione.

!#$%^&*

It was just after midnight when emerald green eyes opened. He didn't know why, but he didn't feel like exploring the Chamber of Secrets during the holidays. He didn't know why, he just didn't feel like it or he didn't want to get off the couch. That was why when he pulled off his covers and it was revealed that he was fully dressed.

Harry tippy toed to the door of his dorm, and then went down the stairs.

$ _Where do you think you're going? _$ hissed a voice from the top of the stairs. He hissed so quietly that Harry barely heard him. He turned and was only somewhat surprised to see that Callidus had detected his movements. $ _Harry, did you honestly think that you would be able to get away and explore the chamber without me? _$

$ _No, not really. I just wasn't sure if you would like to come in the middle of the night like I want to. I can't go in the middle of the day, because then Ron and Hermione will follow me. As much as I like my friends, this is something more personal and I would rather do it alone or with you. Since I see you managed to get awake in the middle of the night, I can assume that you would like to come? _$

Callidus didn't even bother to answer the obvious question. He just started to slither down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, Harry put his arm down so he could wrap himself around it. Then he turned around and left the common room.

Harry was just starting to enter the main floor when he heard it. There were two voices arguing in the entrance hall.

"You do not want to figure out how to accomplish your goal, Quirrell." said a voice that Harry soon identified as his head of house.

"I-I-I don't kn-kn-know what you're t-t-talking about, p-p-professor Snape." Said a shaky voice that only one person in the castle had.

"Don't lie to me." Snape said in a threatening tone. "I know you've been after it, and I know that you haven't been successful. I'll catch you there again, and then I will go to Dumbledore about a certain greedy Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." With that, Professor Snape walked off upstairs. Professor Quirrell stood there muttering to himself for a few minutes before he followed.

Not wanting to give them a chance to come back, Harry ran to the second floor bathroom and opened the door to the chamber; he didn't stop running until he had passed the safety of the blood wards. He was positive that no one would disturb him here.

He put Callidus down so he could go ahead as an extra precaution, as always. He didn't want to have any nasty surprises in the form of any other snake. Even though Harry should be able to control it, he wasn't prepared to go visit Salazar's basilisk.

Harry entered the tree room. He considered stopping to see the family tree again, but decided not to, thinking he could study the family tree of one of the most famous wizards in history later. He went around the table that showed the family tree and out the door that led to the library.

'I'll have to come back here,' Harry thought. 'The library will be really interesting to look at, especially that part about his life. I'll be the first wizard to find out a detailed account of Salazar's Slytherin's life!' He walked out of the library and decided that he would like to go and look at the dueling chamber tonight, then go back to the dorm.

He walked into the dueling chamber. It was exactly like he remembered it. The blue platform was being held up by stone supports that have obviously been enchanted, since they were still here holding up the platform a thousand years after construction. The faint glow around the walls was still there, along with the switches marked in parseltongue. He started to walk towards them.

As he got closer, he could tell what they meant. One said _Rain_, while another said _Snow_. There were other ones though, such as '_cold_, _hot, sandy and windy._' Those ones were the colour green. Perhaps they were things that the duelers could use to control the environment that they dueled in. There were four switches in purple. Each one was labeled differently. They read '_Easy, Medium, Difficult, and Master._' To Harry, they were obviously some sort of level system for something. The third colour was yellow. They read '_Wand and sword.' _Harry thought that these two were probably the type of something.

Harry looked at them and considered pulling to see what it does, but quickly discarded that thought. He wouldn't do something so unprepared. Maybe the next time he was down here with one of his friends he would see what they did.

For now, he was content to just go up on the platform and look around. Callidus had gone off to do his own exploring when Harry had entered the dueling room, so he was alone. While the blue platform might've been the size of the Quidditch pitch, it had a low ceiling compared to the rest of the chamber. It was only around twenty feet high, while the rest of the chamber probably averaged thirty.

Harry got out his wand and cast a simple spell.

"Stupefy," he called out, not putting a lot of power into the spell. The red light shot out of his wand and hit the wall. Instead of hitting the wall and breaking in the stone like it probably should've, the wall just absorbed it. Harry repeated the process a few more times, always with the same result.

Harry realized after his fifth time that it might be something about the wall. Perhaps it was the glow around it? Harry then looked at his watch. It read 3AM. Thinking that he had done enough exploring for the evening, Harry went back to the common room, knowing that Callidus would find his way back eventually.

!#$%^&*

Hermione Granger was a muggle-born witch. She had always been book smart, not a people person. Her sister was the popular and athletic one, where she was the one that people picked on in the corner. Gabriel would never say things to her directly, but she would watch and laugh with the rest of them. This caused her to become isolated and independent at a young age. Though her parents treated them fairly equally, they would always have time to practice some sport with Gabriel, while only on the occasion could they take Hermione to the library. Gabriel was smart too, but she didn't have her head in a book all the time like Hermione did.

When she learned of magic, she didn't realize what the price would become. Hermione believed that people would be more opened minded and intelligent. She was wrong. Everyone she had met was just like the people in the non-magical world. Until she had crashed into Harry Potter, the boy that was never even mentioned to be related to the wizarding world's savior, on the Hogwarts Express.

Hermione had convinced her parents to buy her some extra reading material at Flourish and Blotts, though she was only aloud to get three, much to her dismay. So she had chosen two history books and a book called _You want to know the wizarding world?_ It was the first one she had read when she got home. It was an information book, telling her about the different positions in the ministry and Hogwarts. It was a little dry, but it got her prepared.

The other two books were almost full of the same thing: this guy named Percy Potter. He had survived the killing curse, something that was thought to be impossible. The photo of Percy in the book made him look very handsome, and Hermione started to develop a small crush, like many other girls, on the savior.

Those feelings were soon squashed like a bug, however. She looked for him on the train, but couldn't find him until she ran into a guy that looked very much like the savior, though he ended up being his brother. They bonded, along with another guy, named Ronald Weasley. She was delighted to learn that they were both decently intelligent, unlike all the other guys she had seen on the train.

Her strength was in Transfiguration. Ron was good at history and Harry had multiple talents. He could talk to snakes, and was incredible at potions. Before Hogwarts, it would've bothered Hermione that someone was smart or better than her at something academic. She always thought that they would rub it in her face, like that one time Gabriel did better on a math test then she did. But Harry and Ron weren't like that.

Hogwarts couldn't afford two people that acted like Percy Potter, let alone three. What would be worse, is that Harry and Ron can actually back up their claims.

!#$%^&*

"Good morning Hermione," Harry greeted his friend as Ron and him sat down at the Slytherin table. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Hermione said. "It's just… I forgot about the Transfiguration essay that Professor Mcgonagall said we had to do. It's due tomorrow!"

"What Transfig…" He trailed off as he remembered the essay that she was speaking of. They had been so occupied with their extra studying in the chamber that they had forgotten about the essay Professor Mcgonagall had assigned them.

Hermione looked like she was fighting back tears. "I… I… I've never had a late assignment before!"

It was Sunday night, and Transfiguration would be first thing in the morning tomorrow.

"You're talking about the one about the theory of turning an animate object into something inanimate, right?" he asked her. She nodded.

"Hrme sk ti up!" came a noise from their right. They looked over and saw the third member of their trio trying to talk with his mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"Ron, don't talk with your mouth full!" Hermione scolded. "It's not proper for a Slytherin. In fact, it's not proper for anyone!"

Ron finished the steak he had been chewing and answered. "Neither is crying at the dinner table."

"Yes, well. That was a onetime thing. However, you on the other hand always eat like a pig!"

Ron didn't really want to concede defeat to Hermione, but didn't have an answer for that argument. Harry added that to his tally. Ron: 2 Hermione: 4

"So what are we going to do about the essay?" Harry asked his friends. Lowering his voice he said "I think we should sneak into the library. I mean, I know a lot of the things, but I might miss some things."

Ron and Hermione looked at him like he had grown another head.

"Mate, you always know the answers, even if you choose not to share them! Why do you want to go to the library when you have all those books in your trunk! I mean, the only person I know with more books his Hermione! Ow!"

Hermione had taken that comment as an insult and had apparently decided to hit Ron… with a book.

"Oh, Ron. You know me better than anyone I know, except for my mother. Actually, I overheard our mirror's talking about researching something in the library tonight. I don't even think it's the first time they've done it, either."

That was all it took to convince Ron and Hermione.

!#$^%&*

A transfiguration essay later, the trio walked as silently as they could, three pairs of eyes on the lookout for teachers. They went from secret passage to secret passage, trying to remain undetected like the good little Slytherins they are. Due to Harry's close call when he was going to the chamber, Callidus was slithering a bit further up the corridor, always going around the corners first to make sure no one was there. However, it the precaution was not necessary, as they made it to the library without being found.

"It's a lot gloomier at night, isn't it?" Hermione observed as they entered the library. She was right. The books looked like they had a lot of dust on them, and there wasn't any moon light coming in since the curtains were closed. Harry bent down and let Callidus slip back onto his arm.

"It's probably done on purpose," Harry whispered back. "To discourage people from coming in." They continued to walk quietly, when they heard voices. They were faint, but there.

"Follow me," Harry told the others. They got into a single file line and crept up behind a bookshelf.

Harry was not very impressed with the Golden Trio's plan for not being caught in the library at night. In plain sight with a lit lantern, they could see Percy, Ray and Gabriel pouring over books. For Harry it looked unnatural for Percy to actually look focused… looking like he's actually capable of making thoughts.

"We've been searching for almost a month, Percy!" Gabriel complained. "We are never going to find out who Nicolas Flamel is!" Harry heard Hermione gasp beside him. Unfortunately, so did Percy.

"Who's there?" He asked. Did he actually expect the person to identify themselves, even though they were obviously spying on him? "I am the Boy-Who-Lived! I command you to show and identify yourself!"

Apparently he did.

"Why doesn't one of us go check?" Gabriel suggested. "I'll go."

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged a panicked look. Gabriel had gotten up and was starting to walk towards them. Harry pointed at Ron and Hermione, than pointed up at the bookshelf.

'Climb' he mouthed to them, hoping they would get the message. Ron picked it up right away, but Hermione looked slightly confused. However, she quickly got it when Ron started to put his foot on the bookshelf, hoisting himself onto the first shelf. She didn't look very happy about climbing a bookshelf, but she must've decided that it was better than being caught spying by her twin, because she started to mirror Ron on the opposite shelf. Harry just disillusioned himself.

He tried to breathe as little and as quietly as possible. Gabriel had almost reached the section that he and his friends had occupied moments before. He hoped that Ron and Hermione had the sense to stay still once they had reached the top shelf. Just as long as Gabriel didn't look up…

"Hello?" She called out. Gabriel then held out her wand and drew nearer to where Harry was disillusioned. Harry's heart beat in his chest, as though it wanted to take off. Gabriel had finally reached the spot where the Slytherin trio had been only a minute earlier, if that. Harry could've reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. He looked up and couldn't find either Ron or Hermione.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately for him, Gabriel heard him, renewing her suspicions. She started to reach around, trying to feel for an invisible body.

"What are you doing?" asked Percy, none so patiently. Gabriel hesitated then answered.

"There's no one here Percy." Gabriel called to her friend.

"You absolutely sure?" he asked. "It would just be like my Slytherin brother to go and sneak in the library at night. He was probably researching some way that he could overthrow me."

Neither Ray nor Gabriel answered to that. Gabriel walked back to the table where Percy and Ray had remained then sat down on the bench again.

"So… about Nicolas Flamel. Who is he?" Ray asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that had settled upon the Golden trio's table. Gabriel threw Ray an irritated look.

"I don't know! Percy doesn't know! Ray, we've already established that none of us knows who Nicolas Flamel is. That is why we've been taking these midnight trips to the library for almost a month now!"

While the exchanged was going on, Ron and Hermione had slowly creped down from their positions from on top of the bookshelf and were now standing at Harry's side. Harry had also stopped his spell, as it took quite a lot of energy to maintain.

"Quiet you two!" Percy ordered. They shut up right away. "We are going to continue to search for Nicolas Flamel until we find him. He is obviously important since he is involved in whatever the three headed dog is guarding. Now… what's this?"

A book came floating down the library, seemingly by itself. It landed softly on the table that Percy, Ray and Gabriel are sitting at.

"I think it's a book, Percy." Gabriel said while trying to hold in a snort. Percy was not as amused.

"I know that Granger! Tell me what the title is!" When Gabriel gave him a pointed looked, he put his head down at mumbled another word.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Gabriel asked. Harry could tell she had heard what he had said, but wanted to get the satisfaction of hearing it again.

"Please." Percy repeated. Harry couldn't believe it. Gabriel Granger had managed to get his brother do actually not only ask for something instead of ordering for it, but also asking politely! His level of respect went up for Hermione's sister.

"It's called _Legends of the Ancient Wizarding world_" Gabriel told him. Harry didn't recognize the book, but even he knew who Nicolas Flamel was. Anyone that grew up in a Pureblood house should. He didn't expect Gabriel to. Nor Ray if he was honest. Though the Weasley's were pureblood, he didn't think that they followed the lesson traditions that the others did. Percy on the other hand…

The three of them huddled around the book, reading in their heads. After about three minutes, Gabriel was finished where it took Percy and Ray another two minutes to complete whatever they had been reading.

"No wonder we couldn't find him in the more recent books." Gabriel stated. "He's sorta old."

Ray looked at her like she was an idiot. "Sorta? The book says that he is 657, and it was published almost ten years ago. Eight years, to be exact. That means he's what… 665 today! Sorta old?"

"Okay fine!" Gabriel said. "He's ancient, happy?"

Percy looked a bit scared, but for once Harry saw something in his eye that told Harry that his brother was serious about something, and for the first time in his life, he looked like he would be actually prepared to do something for it. "And he's the only known creator of the philosopher's stone."

Harry made the sign that it was time to go. He walked as quietly as he could to the exit of the library. He let Callidus back down again and gave him a nod. The snake slithered ahead, acting like the lookout once again. They made it back to the dungeons with no trouble. It was then that an idea struck Hermione.

"Harry, why don't we just put silencing charms on our shoes instead of sneaking around quietly?"

Harry was not pleased that he didn't think of that.

!#$%^&*

_Dear Ginny_

_How are you? I hope that you didn't get into too much trouble for the present. Surely I'm not worth that much to you?_

_Nothing much has been happening at Hogwarts. Well, I guess there has been lots of stuff going on. I can't tell you much in case this letter is intercepted… but I'll tell you some of it. You'll just have to nag Ron for the rest at home since we probably won't see each other again until Diagon Alley._

_Last night, Ron, Hermione and I overheard that Percy, Ray and Gabriel were going to be in the library during closed hours. So naturally, I was curious to see why Percy, who normally avoids libraries like they're the plague, wanted to not only go, but also to go at night. When we got there, we learned that it wasn't even the first time that the Gryffindor Trio (that's the name that was given to the three of them) had done it. They were looking for a person named Nicolas Flamel. Ring any bells?_

_Just in case you don't know, Nicolas Flamel is the only known creator of an object called the Philosophers Stone. This little thing can turn any metal into pure gold, and it creates the Elixir of Life. The elixir would allow anyone to live as long as they would like!_

_The even stranger part is that they never found the book… it came floating down the hallway as if it was being lifted by a levitation charm! I don't know about you, but that sounds like someone wanted them to find out about Nicolas Flamel… but who?_

_That's all I can say over a letter. Even what I've said is risky._

_Your friend,_

_Harry_

_Dear Harry_

_I'm okay. My mum has been complaining non-stop about Ron and his 'little snake friends.' Honestly, I'd almost wonder if she's afraid he will invite you over to the burrow. As much as I would like you to come, I doubt that my parents would allow it and that Ron would be stupid enough to even try._

_You call that nothing? Harry, that's a lot going at Hogwarts. I think that it is especially interesting that the book came floating down by itself. I agree with you Harry. There must be some sort of outside source trying to encourage and help the Gryffindor trio._

_How are your classes going? I've heard from Fred and George that exams are really easy in first year and you will barely in need to study. But then again I've also heard from Percy that studying is important and should never be taken lightly, even in the first year._

_Your friend,_

_Ginny_

_Dear Ginny,_

_I doubt that Ron would try to invite us over to your home, what did you call it? The burrow? He's not that dumb, and if your mum actually thinks that he is then she seriously needs to get to know your brother a bit more. I'm not dumb enough either to invite Ron and Hermione over to my home, so that would only leave Hermione's home. I hope she invites us, just so I can get out of Potter Mansion._

_Speaking of the summer vacation, do you think you could do something for me? Could you sneak Ron some food this summer? I mean, he says that he gets locked in his room often, sort of like I do. The difference is that the Potter's have house elves, so I could just call the ones that I know like me and they would bring food to me. I'm sorry to say that Ron doesn't have that same luxury._

_You asked how the studying is. It's terrible! Hermione made us these study schedules, then actually tried to make Ron and I follow them. Of course we didn't, we we're fine just studying at our own pace, but still, Hermione needs to loosen up a bit. I remember at the beginning of the year, she was really uptight and nervous about her school work. However, Ron and I have been able to get her more relaxed. I guess you can't change someone that much._

_Your friend,_

_Harry_

_Dear Harry,_

_I don't really know if I can sneak in food. My mum watches Ron like a hawk, and she has for as long as I can remember. I have no idea why though! I might be able to try though. Besides, even if I get caught, I can just remind my mother of the fact that I'm the first Weasley girl in generations, so it would look bad if she were to punish me._

_It sounds like Hermione is really intense about her school work. I guess that can be good and bad right? I mean, if she is interested, then it means she'll be able to learn more. You never know when that sort of thing comes in handy. _

_Your friend,_

_Ginny_

!#$%^&*

!#$%^&*

Exams drew nearer and nearer for Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The OWL and NEWT students were frantically studying, trying to cram as much knowledge as possible into their heads before the examiners that would affect their lives came to test them.

Even for the younger years, the exams were sort of pressuring. Though Ron and Harry had managed to get Hermione a bit more laid back about academics, there were still times when she went back to her old ways.

"Hermione, I've told you a million times, as much as I appreciate the study schedule that you created for me, I really don't need it."

"Shut up Ron. You just don't want it. Besides, it creates good habits for when you need to study and the workload is heavier."

Ron didn't have an answer.

'Ron: 0 Hermione: 5' thought Harry. 'Wow, Ron hasn't won the weekly (unofficial) debate contest since November, and now it was almost June.'

Exams came and passed. Harry found them extremely easy. He had been breezing through his classes with a very high grade, so he wasn't really worried about the marks he would be receiving. Hermione on the other hand...

"Harry, Ron! What did you two get for number 20 during Transfiguration? I thought that the animate transfiguration would be more effective."

"Harry, Ron! How do you think you did? I'm pretty sure that I got numbers 3, 14 and 39 wrong during the charms exam. I mean, what is a Wingardium Leviosa spell really useful for? It's not like you're able to use it in a battle or anything!"

Finally, Ron had had enough after she started to rant as they left the potions exam.

"Hermione, shut up! I'm sure you did great. You're starting to give me a headache!" Harry looked at him.

"She's just starting to? She gave me one after Transfiguration. As much as I love to learn, Hermione, there are times where you should stop and just have fun. Be confident in what you know. You'll do great, don't worry." Harry said the last bit soothingly.

The final exam went by smoothly and Hermione finally seemed to shut up, about the exams anyway.

"So what will you two be doing this summer?" She asked. "Personally, I'll be in the library, trying to stay away from Gabriel as much as possible. At least we're in the house lead thanks to you Harry." It was true. Much of the house points in the Slytherin jar were due to Harry. Due to his amazing performance on the Quidditch pitch, Slytherin is basically guaranteed the title with they're 3-0 record, unless the Gryffindor's, who were 1-1, beat Ravenclaw by over 360 points. The bonus was it had put the snakes far beyond anyone's reach when it came to the house title too.

"I'll probably be left upstairs in the attic with the ghoul again." Replied Ron gloomily. "That's where I've been every year for as long as I can remember. At least Ray has a decent room as far as our family goes."

"That sounds as fun as my summer Ron," Harry told him, hoping it would cheer him up. "Ever since my family discovered I could speak to Callidus, they haven't let me out of my room, which is as big as two of our beds in the Slytherin dorm. At least now that my mum has been freed…"

Thinking of his mum made him think of his Slytherin heritage, and how she had been under that spell that Dumbledore placed on her to ignore him… Also, thinking of that reminded Harry of how he had learned that. It was as though he had gained access to his mother's mind, and almost effortlessly. Harry knew that was possible for a powerful wizard to access someone else's mind, but he had never tried to do that, or research it.

"Harry? Harry? You still with us mate?"

Harry shook his head.

"Yeah, sorry guys. I just got lost in thought. Where were we?"

"Summer holidays and what we're going to do." Hermione told him, not really sure of his reaction.

"Oh right. Those." Harry said glumly.

Seeing that neither of her friends was big on the summer holidays like she was, though it didn't really surprise her considering how they said they were treated at home, Hermione tried to change the subject to something that she knew they both loved, though why was a bit odd to her.

"Do you guys want to play wizard chess? Winner gets first pick of deserts."

The two male heads shot up.

!#$%^&*

$ _Dear Harry _

_I apologize for the lateness of this letter. I am aware that you sent your original letter just before Christmas and now the exams have passed. By the way, I am going to want you to tell me what was on the exams. I wonder how much they've changed._

_How you are. I hope you are doing well and are still keeping a strong friendship with those two Snakes, as your twin so elegantly puts it. It is important to be able to know that you can trust some people. Remember, my son, you cannot trust everyone. However, knowing that there are some people that you trust with your life is nice._

_The house is mostly peaceful now. At least, as peaceful as it can be with Sirius, James and Remus around. The house was a prank-war zone for at least two weeks. According to the book of pranking, two weeks is the minimum that a prank-war may last. Seriously Harry, they actually showed me that book. However, as soon as the clock struck midnight they knew it is over._

_I am glad that you found the family chamber Harry. I'm also impressed that it took you that long to find out about it. It took me until the fourth year to realize that I could speak this unique language, and another two years to locate the chamber. Congratulations! I assume that you've explored some of it, if not all of it. I would just like to assure you that all of the things in there are safe. Just don't wake the basilisk._

_Apparently there is this fellow named Tom Riddle who is also a remaining heir. He's older, but I haven't been able to find him! He probably went into hiding to protect the family line or something. I assume that he's still alive?_

_Now Harry, I know that it was a long time ago, but I would still like to talk to you about the Quidditch Math. After this, we don't have to speak of it again unless you want to. Percy was falling off his broom and you went and caught the snitch instead of helping him. Harry, I'm not going to disapprove of what you did, as it is what I probably would've done. However, you must remember that we are Slytherins, and we must present ourselves to the world in a certain way. We cannot afford to show the world what we think. That is why this summer, I am going to teach you how to put up conscious Occlumency shields. I believe you are a natural, but you will still need to create some shields to have the benefits of things such as keeping an emotionless face and stunning the person you just repelled. These things are very useful, especially when you go out into public and can't afford to lose your temper. For me, it's to make sure the press doesn't have a field day, but for you it will be so you don't lose yourself allies._

_With lots of love,_

_Lily Potter _$

!#$%^&*

Harry lay on his bed, thinking about his life. Since he had come to Hogwarts, he had found friends. Growing up, he was never given that chance, always being overshadowed by Percy. He was looking forward to coming to Hogwarts, yes, but only because he loved to learn so much, not because he had great social expectations. However, ever since he crashed into Ron and Hermione on the train, he had companions. People that he felt he could trust. With that last thought Harry fell asleep.

_A person stood in a chamber. Harry could tell that it wasn't the chamber of secrets. It looked like it could be a part of Hogwarts, but Harry wasn't sure. The person stood studying a mirror, mumbling to himself._

"_I see myself in the mirror, with the stone. I see myself presenting it to my master, the greatest wizard who has ever lived. I see my dream, but how do I make that reality?"_

_Harry could see someone coming up from behind the person._

"_N-n-no! I won't let you steal it!" said the voice of a person who was trying to sound courageous, and failing. The person turned around, and Harry gasped as well as you could in a dream. It was Professor Quirrell. But if that was professor Quirrell, then who was his master? Harry could only think of one wizard that people called master in the recent years and he didn't want to see him._

"_Hello, Percy Potter. I was wondering if you would grace me with your presence." Quirrell said._

"_Quirrell, let me speak to him, man to boy." came a weak voice out of nowhere._

"_Master, are you sure?" Quirrell sounded like he didn't believe that the voice could speak to Percy._

"_Yes you daft servant! I never speak without meaning it!" The same voice commanded. Still looking quite unsure, Quirrell reached up and started to unwrap his turban. What was at the end was revolting._

"_Percy Potter, welcome. I am Lord Voldemort."_

_Percy screamed like a little girl then fainted. Lord Voldemort smiled sadistically then turned around to the mirror again._

"_If only you were as easy to beat." He murmured_

Harry woke with a start, knowing one thing. The stone was in danger.

**And that's chapter 5! I hope you enjoyed it. I've written around 85% of it in the last week or so. I'm on a roll too, as I'm already hard at work on chapter 6.**

**By the way, just in case you didn't notice, I changed my name from Ayemjayis to Bright Yellow Angel Halo.**


	7. The Stone

**Here is the climax of Year 1. I hope it is satisfactory, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my Beta, HP Slash Luv.**

Twin Trios

Chapter 6

Harry jumped out of bed, thoughts racing a million miles per hour. The wizard that he had seen in his dream was obviously the dark lord Voldemort. How did he get in Hogwarts without Dumbledore knowing? Despite Harry's mistrust of the ancient wizard, he still had to acknowledge that the man had power.

Harry considered waking Ron and Hermione, but then realized that he couldn't afford to waste time. Voldemort was already at the stone's final protection. When Harry actually started to think of it, he started to wonder something. If it was possible for Percy to get through the protections unscathed, then how effortless would it be for Lord Voldemort, a wizard whose name puts fear in the hearts of witches and wizards everywhere?

He then thought of his head of house. After the incident when Professor Snape tricked Harry into fighting him, Harry had taken to trying not to be alone with the teacher. He wasn't sure how much he could trust him now. Besides, there was no guarantee that his head of house would believe Harry and his claims. It would take too much time to present his arguments. No, he would be better off to just go and try to save the stone himself.

Harry decided to stay in his Pajamas, but grabbed his wand. He was about to go and confront the most feared wizard of all time in his nightwear. The thought made him snort. Across the room Goyle turned in his sleep. Harry froze, hoping he wouldn't be forced to use that sleeping charm he had just learned. Actually, Goyle probably wouldn't be able to do anything other than stare at him while he left, but he still didn't want to risk it.

Harry cast a silencing charm on his shoes, like Hermione had suggested they do when they go out. He then made sure that everybody was in their beds. Ron, Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and then Malfoy. He eyes flitted from bed to bed, until he got to Malfoy. There he found that Malfoy was missing? He rubbed his eyes then looked again to make sure he didn't have sleep in his eyes, even though he felt wide awake. He was correct.

The pureblood prince was not sleeping. Harry briefly wondered what he was doing, but quickly dismissed it. He doubted that Malfoy was doing anything wrong. Without anymore thoughts about Malfoy and his nighttime wanderings, Harry headed downstairs.

'It's unfortunate that this just so happens to be the one night that Callidus decides he wants to go and try to hunt in the forest. At least I know he'll be safe, he's basically ten feet now!'

Harry entered the common room and was halfway across when he heard something move behind him. He stiffened up.

"Stupefy!" a voice called out from the corner. Harry's instincts kicked in and he dropped to the ground, ready to return fire.

" Expelliarmus," he whispered softly in return, aiming in the general direction of where the voice had come from. The spell missed and hit the wall, but was able to briefly illuminate the area so Harry could see who his target was. It was Malfoy.

"Stupefy," Harry tried again, this time going to a slightly more powerful spell. This time he got lucky and the spell managed to hit Malfoy on the arm, causing him to cry out and fall over, giving away his exact position. Another spell later and Malfoy was at Harry's mercy.

"Good evening Malfoy," Harry said pleasantly. "How are you today?"

No answer.

"Draco Malfoy, did your mummy never teach you how to be polite to people. Especially the ones that you would like to impress?"

The Malfoy heir still wouldn't answer his question. Harry stunned him.

What to do with him? He had just attacked Harry from behind with no provocation. Harry couldn't think of anything he did recently that would make Malfoy want to have revenge. Well, except when he changed Malfoy's and Crabbe's pillowcases when Crabbe drools, but Harry didn't think Malfoy know is was Harry who did that.

Harry then remembered the reason he had gotten out of bed in the first place. He would have to decide quickly, as the time was ticking. Harry wished, not for the first time, that he was able to do human Transfiguration. However, that was way above him. He was still working with the four year material, as it was giving him some trouble. Harry made his decision.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he stated calmly. Malfoy unconscious body lifted off the floor and floated over to Harry. Turning around, Harry left the common room at a fast walk. He went up to the second floor girl's bathroom.

$ _Open _$ He hissed to the sinks. They respond as normal, changing into the entrance for the Chamber of Secrets. $ _Stairs_ $

The stairs quietly slide into place as usual, taking an all of three seconds. Harry dumped Malfoy's unconscious body into the chamber on the stairs, than closed the chamber.

Turning away from the entrance, Harry realized he had taken too much time dealing with Malfoy. It had probably taken fifteen minutes. He broke into a full sprint.

By the time he reached the third floor corridor, he was panting heavily. Noting to himself that he should do some physical training, he continued on. The three headed dog should be the first obstacle that protects the stone, but after that it would be a walk in the dark.

After pausing for another moment to catch his breath, Harry tried to open the door. It was already unlocked. He opened it then braced himself.

However, it was soon apparent that it was for nothing. Harry noticed that while the dog did indeed have three heads, all three of them had thought it was a good time to have a nap. Not really wanting to test his luck, Harry scanned the room as quickly as he good for the signs of something that would allow him to move on towards the stone.

He got his wish sooner then he thought. He was halfway through scanning the room when he spotted a trapdoor near the three headed dog's feet. Walking carefully, he went closer to the trapdoor and observed it.

It was made of wood and had a handle that looked heavy, but knowing magic Harry could guess that it was light. He went and picked it up, confirming his guess. He pulled it and it came open.

Down below was darkness. That's all Harry could see.

"Lumos," he whispered. The tip of his wand lit up, showering below with light. Harry could make out some sort of plant it was. Whatever it was, Harry knew that it wouldn't be pleasant. Judging by the way the plant had reacted when Harry's light shined on it, it made him guess that it was Devil's Snare, but he wasn't sure.

'Too bad the time for thinking and planning ahead is over,' thought Harry. 'It's time to improvise.' With that, he jumped down.

After a short fall, Harry felt himself land on something soft. I immediately felt something trying to wrap itself around his leg. The few doubts he had about it being Devil's Snare were erased.

"Incendio," Harry casted calmly, not struggling or panicking at all. Fire came out of the tip, landing onto of the sensitive plant. The plant instantly started to panic. It started to go all wild, until finally it seemed to shudder one last time, than was still.

Harry walked over to the door on the left. Harry wasn't impressed when he opened it too. The doors from challenge to challenge, as Harry now thought of them, should've at least been locked and immune to a basic first year opening charm as a basic security measure. It was almost like someone wanted to make the challenges easier.

Harry walked into the second room and heard something before he saw it. He heard the sound of fluttering wings, sort of like what the golden snitch sounds like when it is released. Perhaps this challenge involved some sort of high speed pursuit? That might cause a problem to Harry, as he wasn't really dressed to ride a broom or something similar.

Harry walked quickly across the room. It was taller than the other rooms he had been in. However, Harry spotted the reason quickly. Making the noise he could hear was hundreds of keys. Harry went over to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't comply. Not surprised, Harry turned back towards the keys.

"Accio key," he called out. Nothing happened. Harry wasn't sure if that was because of an anti-summoning charm or because of how inconsistently he was able to properly cast that spell.

'Well, there aren't any brooms left for me to try and catch the correct key with, so what can I do?' Harry thought.

Just then he heard a noise coming from the other side of the door. Harry turned around quickly. He then listened carefully. It seemed like there were around two people on the other side, one helping the other. Then he heard their voices.

"Just let me go Gabriel! I can walk by myself you know." came a voice that Harry could recognize as Ray Weasley. He should've known that Percy wouldn't have been able to get through everything without help, but he hadn't thought that Ray and Gabriel would come to help him with the crazy plan.

"Do not lie to me. Whenever I start to let go you always start to fall. Now, shut up and stop complaining,"

Harry ran to the side of the door, hoping that he could time what he was about to do right. He could hear the two Gryffindors getting closer and closer to the door. Just before they opened the door, Harry casted a Disillusion charm one himself. He felt the uncomfortable feeling of some liquid running down his back, but it was over in a second. Less than five seconds later, the door opened. Apparently it was only locked from the outside. Another really stupid safety measure, in Harry's opinion.

Gabriel came through first, dragging Ron's twin. Ray didn't look very good to Harry, and Harry actually felt sort of bad for him. He had a black bruise that covered half his face and was walking funny. And that was with Gabriel's support.

Gabriel was also carrying two broomsticks. Harry would bet almost anything that they were the brooms that were supposed to be in the current room.

However, Harry didn't have the time to see what the two Gryffindors were going to do with the broomsticks. Gabriel had let go of the door that led into the next room, and Harry had to run to make sure he got there in time. The door slammed shut behind him.

Harry saw that the next task had already been destroyed for him. A chess board with giant pieces, some still intact, so not. It must've been what injured Ray, Harry realized. Never less, he ran across the board, hoping that the pieces had already conceded defeat and wouldn't attack him. They didn't.

As soon as Harry walked into the room with the next challenge, he hunched over because of the utterly revolting smell that attacked his nostrils. He looked for the source of the smell and saw a troll lying on the ground, dead. Hoping there weren't going to be a lot more challenges, Harry went through the open arch on the other side of the room.

He entered the room and saw that this was the last challenge. On the other side of the room was a second open archway, and beyond that Harry could make out the mirror. He broke into a sprint.

Unfortunately for Harry though, he got only halfway through the room when it happened. Two fires broke out in the middle of the archways. The one from the way he came was purple, where the one that he needed to get through was pure black.

A table with different potions appeared in front of Harry. There were seven potions on the table, along with a piece of parchment According to the parchment, three were poisons, two were nettle wine, one would take Harry back through the fire and the last one would take him forward through the fire, towards the stone. After reading the parchment a few times, he took the smallest bottle and open the cap. He then sniffed it.

It wasn't any poisons that he knew of, and the clues on the parchment said that the smallest one would take him forward. He drank it, and then felt a sort of icy feeling spread through his body. Taking a deep breath, he held his wand out in front of him and walked forward through the flames.

The first thing he noticed about the room that he had dreamed about was that it was basically empty. The sole thing was Percy's unconscious body lying in an awkward position on the stairs that led down to the mirror. A cold feeling developed in the pit of Harry's stomach. What if Voldemort had already gotten the stone and was gone? Was he too late?

He walked forward to the mirror. It was extremely clean, like no one had ever touched it. It showed him his reflection, except the mirror showed him smiling, where in real life Harry was trying to keep his straight face on. In the mirror, Harry saw that he took this blood red stone out of his pocket, than put it back in. In real life, Harry felt his pocket all of a sudden get heavier. He had the stone!

"Very good, Mr. Potter," came a voice from the right. It was accompanied by clapping. Harry whirled around, trying to locate the voice that he knew belonged to his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. "Now, why don't you be a good little boy and give the stone to me."

Professor Quirrell stepped out of the shadows. He had put his turban back on. Perhaps he wanted to be able to give Harry a surprise and possible even make him faint when he revealed who he had living in the back of his head. Or maybe it's just that Voldemort was one for dramatics.

"Evening Professor," Harry greeted. "What brings you here this fine evening?"

Quirrell narrowed his eyes. "You know very well what brought me here you little brat! Otherwise you would not be here, trying to accomplish the hopeless task of preventing me from my goal."

"Okay fine," Harry admitted. "I know that you want the stone. The funny thing is, you don't even want it for yourself, but for your master, Lord Voldemort." Quirrell paled at that claim, knowing how true it was.

"How did you find out that information?" he asked angrily. "Even Dumbledore doesn't know that." He spat out the _Dumbledore_ like there was nothing worse in the world.

"That's for me to know, and you not to find out," Harry said with a sweet, innocent smile. At least, he hoped that's what it looked like. He didn't know how much success he had.

"Let me speak to him, Quirrell," came a voice from the back of Quirrell's head. If he didn't know better, Harry would've had no clue of where the voice had come from.

"Master, do you have the strength?" Quirrell asked uncertainly.

"You insolent fool! How dare you question the strength of the great Lord Voldemort!" Quirrell, still looking unsure, slowly started to unwrap his turban for the second time that night.

He finished then turned around.

Harry could understand why his twin fainted at the mere sight of the current state of the Dark Lord. He had no nose, instead they were just too slits in his face. He also had red eyes. Just looking at a face coming out of the back of someone else's head made Harry want to throw up, but he managed to resist the temptation.

"Harry Potter, we meet again." Voldemort told Harry.

"That was a meeting that I'm sure both of us would like to erase, isn't it?" Harry asked. "I didn't really do you any good."

Voldemort's eyes flashed. "No, I suppose I must agree with you on that comment. However, that said, you are a smart boy. I've noticed in Defense class that you've been holding back. I know that you know a lot. I could teach you much, Harry Potter. I could give you power beyond your imagination, if only you would give me that blood red stone in your pocket."

Harry stopped and thought of it. It was tempting. He was being offered power and training by one of the most powerful wizards alive. That said, he was also the darkest wizard and Harry doubted that he would honor his word. In fact, it wouldn't surprise him that as soon as he got his hands on the stone, he would probably try to kill Harry, and then as soon as he regained his body he would kill Quirrell.

"Why would you offer me this chance, and not the Boy-Who-Lived?" Harry asked, somewhat sarcastically, pointing to the unconscious Gryffindor behind him. "Wouldn't that be much better, I mean, he was the one that defeated you when we were young."

There were many things that Harry expected Voldemort to do, but laugh was not one of them.

"Why would I offer power to that fool?" Voldemort asked. "No, I wouldn't even offer training to anyone but you. You see, Harry Potter, when I attack Godric's Hollow on Halloween, it wasn't your brother that I tried to kill. It was you."

Harry's stomach dropped. It wasn't possible. Albus Dumbledore had declared Percy the Boy-Who-Lived, and he wouldn't make such a mistake. It just wasn't possible. Voldemort was trying to trick him!

"YOU'RE LYING!" shouted Harry, finally losing his composure. Voldemort just smiled calmly, which just made Harry even angrier.

"I am terribly sorry, Harry, but I am not. Your annoying bratty brother is just a wizard who thinks he's better than everyone else for beating me, despite the fact that he wasn't the one that did it!"

Harry was breathing heavily.

"Now," continued Voldemort. "Give me the stone!"

"NO!" was the reply that he received.

"Kill him," ordered Voldemort. "I grow tired of this game." Quirrell followed his orders; he reached for his wand but Harry used his slowness to his advantage by disarming him before Quirrell even had the wand out.

Quirrell then resorted to muggle methods. He ran at Harry with his arms outstretch, intending to strangle him to death. Harry tried to dodge, but was not successful. Quirrell's hand grabbed him at the throat. Harry dropped his wand, trying to use both hands to force Quirrell off of him, but the old man was just too strong. His vision was started to go black.

"Ow!" Quirrell screeched in pain. He let go of Harry and looked down. Harry dropped to his knees and tried to get his breath back, while searching for his wand. None other than Callidus was biting Quirrell's ankle. Apparently he had snuck in, evading all of their notice. Then, having seen that his master and friend was in danger, bit the man responsible.

Quirrell's face crumpled in pain. The basilisk venom was clearly penetrating his body. He stumbled and fell to his knees. Harry found his wand and scrambled to his feet.

"You fool!" cried out Voldemort. Then, instead of attempting to save his servant, Voldemort tore out of his body and fled up the hall toward the potions room. Meanwhile, Quirrell took his last breath then laid still.

Harry lay still for a moment, then heard someone coming down the stairs. He quickly turned and ran behind one of the pillars that went around the circular room, hoping that Callidus would have the sense to do the same. The philosopher's stone was firmly in his pocket. There was no way he was giving it up now.

He peeked out from behind the pillar. He was not really that surprised to see that the Headmaster had come down and looked at Percy's unconscious body. He probably believed that Percy was knocked out in some heroic fight against the dark lord. At least, that's what Harry thought the victorious smile on Dumbledore's face was.

Dumbledore looked down at Percy and seemed to be searching for something. Harry realized that he was most likely looking for the very stone that was in his pocket. With a frown, Dumbledore went over to the mirror and made several complex wand movements, muttering under his breath. When he finished, he waited for five seconds, then paled completely white.

"What am I going to tell Nicolas?" He asked to no one, not realizing that there was a first year student hiding not even twelve feet away. Turning away from the mirror, he realized that there was nothing he could do.

Dumbledore took out his wand and levitated Percy. He then went over to a spot on the wall and waved his wand over it. A secret passage opened up and Dumbledore entered it, Percy's body following closely behind. It then closed behind him. Harry came out of his hiding spot, as did Callidus.

$ _How did you know I was down here? _$ Harry asked his snake. $_ And how did you get through all the protections around this place. _$

$ _Harry, those protections were made for humans, not snakes. Especially basilisks. We can go through nearly every fire save Fiendfyre, and those other ones were easier on my skin. The only one I had a bit of trouble of was with the locked door, but I managed to use my tail to unlock it. It was painful though. _$ Callidus explained.

$ _You didn't answer my first question, Callidus. How did you know if was in danger._ $ Harry asked again, this time a little more forcefully.

$ _I don't really know how I knew you were in danger Harry. I just felt like I need to go to the third floor corridor. However, by the time I got there, those people who I think are related to Ron and Hermione were just coming out of the door. I hurried down here as fast as I could, and found that mean man trying to strangle you to death. So I did what my instincts insisted and bit him. _$The more Callidus explained his reasoning, the less angry Harry could stay. How could he when the snake had just saved his life.

Nodding at Callidus to show him he wasn't angry or upset, Harry went over to the wall that Dumbledore had left through and waved his wand over the seemingly pointless brick. However, much to his delight the passage opened up just as easily for him as it did for the Headmaster. He walked into the secret passage, wondering where it came out.

It came out just in front of a statue on the second floor. In fact, it was right beside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Internally laughing at the unintentional placing, Harry decided that, since he was so close to the chamber, he would just interrogate Malfoy now.

He entered the girl's bathroom and hissed $ _Open _$. The chamber opened up, but instead of seeing a Draco Malfoy, unconscious and at Harry's mercy, he instead saw a pipe that led down into the chamber.

$ _Stairs _$ Harry commanded. The stairs appeared, with still no Malfoy. Getting a bit worried, Harry closed then opened the chamber again. That's how he learned that when the entrance closes from the outside, the stairs automatically go back into their storage area.

Oops.

That must've meant that the Malfoy heir was currently lying at the bottom of the chamber. Well, as far as he could go without being keyed into the blood protection. Feeling a bit adventurous, Harry decided that he would slide down the pipe for fun.

When he got to the bottom, he made the mental note that if he was in a hurry, just slide down. It was probably less safe, but it was so much quicker that if the need was good enough then it would totally be worth it.

When he got the bottom he found his dorm mate at the very entrance, this time, though, he appeared to be sleeping rather than being stunned. How he got to sleep in that position, Harry didn't know. But never less, it was time to wake Malfoy up. Since he was in such a good mood, Harry even would be nice about it.

Harry conjured a bucket then filled it with water. He then proceeded to dump it on the head of the pureblood heir.

"Hey!" Malfoy sat up indignantly. "Who's there? Where am I?"

Then he caught sight of Harry.

"You! I bet you stunned me while my back was turned, then dragged me down here to be your hostage. You just wait until my father hears about this!"

Harry laughed outright, not even trying to hold it in. "Malfoy, if I wanted something from your family, I would figure out another way to get it. I don't just go around kidnapping people for fun like some other people I know do. And for your information, I did not stun you while your back was turned, as you've claimed. You attacked me, and I want to know why."

"I didn't attack you." Malfoy claimed. "The last thing that I remember was being called to Professor Quirrell's office after dinner. He said he wanted to discuss my ambitions for the future."

It was that moment that it made sense to Harry. The late professor had probably cast some sort of curse on Malfoy that caused him to stay up and attack Harry, just in case he figured it out like he did. But when he overpowered Malfoy, which Quirrell probably expected him too, Quirrell knew that Harry was coming and that was how he had been able to hide before Harry got there.

Now Harry had two options. He could either let Malfoy walk out of the chamber himself, or he could stun him and dump him some random place that he would think Harry had taken him. After all, Harry just remembered that he still had the blonde's wand.

"Stupefy," Harry whispered. Malfoy's head shot up again, and Harry was mildly surprised and impressed when the aristocrat had the sense to attempt to dodge the incoming spell. However, he was too slow and the spell still hit him, knocking him unconscious once again.

'Hmmmm,' Harry thought. 'A lot of people seem to be getting knocked unconscious tonight.' He then levitated his housemate's body up the stairs that he summoned, than left with him.

As Harry was on his way back to the Slytherin common room, he dumped Malfoy close to Professor McGonagall's office. Hopefully the head of Gryffindor house won't believe Malfoy's claim that Harry attacked him and he'll get in trouble. But even if that doesn't happen, the important thing is that it's nowhere near the Chamber of Secrets, so Malfoy doesn't know where Harry had taken him.

Harry got back to the common room and snuck upstairs. He then fell in bed, realizing that he would only be able to get three hours of sleep in before he would have to get up in the morning. Harry's last thoughts before the sleep came were 'I just took on Lord Voldemort in my pajamas.'

!#$%^&*

Harry was extremely tired in the morning, but abnormally cheerful. Ron and Hermione asked him about it multiple times, but he wouldn't answer them. He would tell them about it later tonight, when they were alone with the Muffliato spell protecting his news from nosy ears.

Another thing that Harry had on his mind was a certain blood red stone that currently lied in his trunk. He had made sure that the stone was under a lot of his clothes. It would be impossible to find unless you either knew it was there or did a full search of Harry's trunk. He doubted either would happen.

Harry wasn't sure what he should do with it. He could keep it, but to him that would be wrong. He had no clue how he had gotten the stone out of the mirror, but since it was Dumbledore who had cast the spell, he probably could've only got it if the mirror thought he had a noble intent.

Harry decided that he would wait until the last day of school and then mail the stone back to the Flamels. By that time, hopefully Dumbledore had informed them that the thing that keeps them alive was stolen and they've had a falling out. This would lose Dumbledore plenty of information and skill that one must develop to survive six and a half centuries. If Harry was lucky, Flamel would be grateful for what he had done and perhaps they could have more contact.

He hoped that, anyways. He didn't just stroll in there and get this stone. His life had been threatened, and that scared him. Well, the fact that his life was in danger last night wasn't all that scared him. The other thing that freaked out Harry was the secret that Voldemort had told him during their discussion.

The dark lord had out right told Harry that Percy wasn't the boy that broke his power, but it was Harry. It would be just like a Slytherin to get inside Harry's head, and Voldemort succeeded. He wasn't sure what to expect. The first thing he had thought was that Voldemort was lying and just trying to stroke his ego so Harry would join him. But then the second thing that Harry thought was that Voldemort would probably know which baby he attacked. Harry just didn't know who to believe.

Another thing that bothered him was how easily Professor Quirrell had been able to beat Harry physically. He decided that he would take up running during the summer, just to see how that went. He might also talk to his mother about getting him something to improve his strength too.

!#$%^&*

"So Harry, tell us about why you were creepily cheerful today." Hermione ordered Harry. They were sitting in the Room of Requirements. Harry had decided that he didn't want just a Muffliato spell on this secret. The trio had just come from dinner in the Kitchens. The entire school was discussing the heroic deed of Percy Potter, and how he had saved the school from Professor Quirrell's evil clutches. Harry thought that Ron and Hermione figured that his story would have something to do with that, and they were right.

"Well," Harry began. "It began with a dream…"

He explained all that had happened last night, leaving out only one detail. The fact that Voldemort claimed that Harry is the true Boy-Who-Lived, not Percy. That detail shocked Harry, and he didn't want to share it with anyone until he was sure of it himself.

Both Ron and Hermione were upset with him for not taking them. Ron more so than Hermione, because she realized that he didn't really have a way to wake her up. However he had no such excuse with Ron.

"It wouldn't have taken more than two minutes for you to wake me up!" was Ron's reasoning. But then it only took one argument from Harry to convince him that even that would be too long.

"Ron, you know how bad at getting up you are. You would've complained and made a bunch of noise, and then it would've taken even more of my precious time to explain everything to you so you would even get up."

He then thought of something else that he wanted his friends help with.

"There is something that I really want help with though." he told them with a serious look on his face. "In the Chamber of Secrets, there's a room called the dueling room. It has a number of different switches that allow someone to control the environment of the duel. At least, that's what I believe they are. However, I haven't tested them yet. I wanted to have you two there with me, just in case something went wrong and I need help. Do you want to go now? It's only seven."

Judging by the looks on Ron and Hermione's face, they really wanted to go. It wasn't often that Harry invited them to the chamber, so they normally took any chance they got to go.

The trio exited the Room of Requirements and practically ran to the second floor bathroom. They slowed down only for the time were a prefect told them no running in the halls, but as soon as they were out of his sight, they broke out into a run again.

Soon enough, they were down the pipe. Harry wanted the two to experience the slide, so he refused to call out the stairs. Not to Harry's surprise, Ron enjoyed it while Hermione screamed the entire way down. Harry even thought she might've called him some names, but he wasn't positive.

The three Slytherin's walked the rest of the way, but at a certain pace. By now, Harry was starting to feel comfortable in the Chamber of Secrets. Especially since his mother said there wasn't anything in there that could hurt him.

He reached the dueling room. It wasn't the first time that Ron and Hermione were in the room, but in was the first time that they actually had the opportunity to study the room.

"I wonder what the spells that are enhancing the strength are," Hermione asked in wonder.

"I'm not sure, but they must be powerful to have lasted the last one thousand years and still be functional," was the answer that Harry gave.

Harry showed them the switches.

"This one says snow on it," he explained. "I'm going to put it on and see what happens. My theory is that somehow snow is going to start falling." Without talking anymore, Harry pulled the switch down for the first time.

Instantly, snow started to fall from the ceiling. All three of them looked up, but couldn't find the source of the white powder. Something that Harry noted was that the snow was only falling on the platform, not around the edges. He turned it off.

"The snow would only fall on the dueling platform," Ron commented. "I think you're right Harry, those switches must be for controlling the environment. Handy, because you never know what you are going to duel in."

"I agree Ron," said Harry. "The environment that you're fighting in could be the difference between life and death."

"Now," he said trying to continue on, pointing at the next colour of switches. "These purple switches all have a different level of something. The problem is I don't know what the levels are for. Since this is the dueling room, I would assume it's some sort of combat thing. I'm going to pull easy first." Once his two friends had given their consent, Harry grabbed the switch and pulled it down.

Out of the dueling platform came a dummy of some sort. It had a fake wand and was around the height of an average person. Instead of feet it had some sort of wheel that it moved on, increasing its agility.

The dummy leveled it's wand at the group and a jet of red light shot out its end. Maybe the wand wasn't so fake after. The Slytherin trio scattered. Harry, having the most training, was the first to get out his wand and aim a spell at the dummy.

"Stupefy," he called out. He relaxed, as the spell was true to its aim, heading right for the dummy's chest. Then, to Harry's shock, the dummy made a slashing gesture with his wand and brought up a shield that absorbed the spell. Not only that, but it also quickly brought down that shield just as quickly and retaliated, shooting another spell at Harry.

His friends finally got out their wands and started to shoot small spells like the disarming charm at the dummy. That was all Ron and Hermione seemed to want to use. While Harry agreed that it had its uses, he felt like it was going to take more than that to take this thing out.

"Use stupefy," he told them. Ron changed right away, while Hermione hesitated a bit. She paid the price. The next spell that the dummy casted was heading right for Hermione; she tried to dodge, but wasn't quick enough. Harry noted that the spell was just red, so he hoped that it was just a simple stunner as there would be no way to explain this to the school's healer.

Harry and Ron attacked the dummy with renewed force, but no matter what they did, it would always be able to dodge their attack or put up a shield. Finally, Harry realized how they had even started this battle. He ran over to where the switches are and turned the easy off.

Instantly, the dummy that really wasn't dumb shut off and was once again swallowed up by the floor. Harry and Ron were both breathing heavily.

It was now obvious to what the levels were for.

"Just think," Harry told Ron after he had caught his breath a little. "That was easy." Ron was too busy trying to catch his breath to answer, but he did give Harry a look that clearly said, _If that was easy I dread to think of what the other levels are like_.

Harry walked over the Hermione and tried to wake her up with a simple Enervate. He was relieved when it worked. The three gathered back at the switches and stood there for a few minutes. Finally Harry broke the silence.

"I think we know what the third switch does. I just noticed that the one is on spells, not sword. I'll bet if we switch it to swords then the dummy will have a sword instead. Let's not try that tonight, since we're so tired from that and we don't even have a sword."

His two companions agreed with him and they left the Chamber of Secrets, not returning until the next year.

!#$^%&*

The final day of school was an interesting one. The night before, Professor Dumbledore had awarded massive points to Gryffindor house, letting them pull out a victory breaking the six year winning streak for Slytherin. None of the Slytherins were too pleased when Dumbledore just so happened to give fifty points to Gabriel, fifty to Ray and sixty one to Percy. The sixty one just so happened to allow the Gryffindor house a one point victory of the cup.

The Slytherin trio had felt that that was extremely personal, especially since Dumbledore knew that Percy hadn't done anything. He just knew that his golden boy had somehow destroyed Quirrell, though what story Percy had cooked up Harry didn't know.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were up early to breakfast and got on the Hogwarts Express as soon the students were allowed to board. Harry had hoped that the Golden Trio would sleep in from celebrating, but he disappointed to see that they made it on time.

They discussed the year rankings for a bit. Harry had gotten first, followed by Hermione then Ron. When they got bored of that they had a mini wizard chess tournament. Harry got knocked out first, so he decided to have a nap. He hoped if he was well rested then it wouldn't be as hard to keep his temper when he got off the train and had to confront his family.

He had a dreamless sleep. He didn't wake up until they had arrived at King's Cross station. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and noticed that his friends were just waking up too.

"So who won the chess match?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

Hermione gave him a look that said, who do you think? So Ron must've won, which bothers Hermione. Since she doesn't play Quidditch or anything, you wouldn't guess it, but Hermione Granger is an extremely competitive person when she does compete. Not that she competes often. Harry and Ron are going to try and get her to join one of the Hogwarts clubs next year. She doesn't know that yet though.

Harry grabbed his trunk and followed Hermione out of the compartment, but first making sure he had Callidus on his arm. He really didn't want to go back to his family for the summer, but had no choice. He was going to be forced to hear the heroic tales of Percy over and over again, for the entire summer. He had grown used to the freedom that he was allowed at Hogwarts, but now he was going back home.

He was sure that his mother would try and include him in stuff when she could, but she still had to play the role of perfect Gryffindor wife, so she wouldn't be able to help him too much. He understood that it was going to be important when the war broke out, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Hermione saw her family first. Gabriel hadn't found them. Hermione wished Harry and Ron goodbye, telling them to have a nice summer. She then hugged both of them, and then went and stood by her parents.

"Well," started Ron uncomfortably. "We should probably split here. Have a nice summer Harry."

"Yeah. You too Ron," Harry replied. The two friends split up, both not wanting to get in trouble if their parents found them together.

Harry finally found his parents. He ran as fast as he could with his trunk and gave his mother a big hug. At that moment, he didn't care about his public image as a Slytherin. He was just happy to see his mother.

"Hello Harry," his mother greeted after he let go. "How was your term?"

"It was okay," he told her with a wink. However, before he could say anything more, the glorious savior of the wizarding world decided to grace his family with his presence.

"Hello father, mother." he said, a hint of arrogance in his voice. The press finally noticed that he was there, so they all hurried over, taking pictures like crazy.

After a few minutes, Percy became bored of posing for pictures and announced that he wanted to leave. So the Potter family left the train station via the floo.

!#$%^&*

_Harry felt comfy. Whatever chair he was in worked wonders and he loved it. It was a new one that his parents had bought him and his little brother._

_He heard the door open and looked to see who it was. Maybe it was mummy or daddy, coming to play? His hopes were quickly dashed by a man in a black cloak entering the room. He didn't feel very nice. In fact, to Harry he felt dangerous._

_His brother must've felt the same thing, because he tensed up and started to cry. That seemed to make the man angrier. He had one of those wooden things that his parents would always carry around._

_The man pointed his wand at Percy, but paused as though thinking. He then rearranged where he was pointing it. The man scared Harry, but Harry couldn't give him the satisfaction of letting him know he was afraid._

_The man said two words that Harry couldn't understand, than a pretty green light shot out of his wand, heading towards Harry. Harry didn't like it, and wanted it to stop. To his delight, it did. However, it seemed that the man in black wasn't as pleased as he tried to move out of the way, but wasn't successful._

_When the green light hit the man, he disappeared. Harry cheered, clapping his fat baby hands. That man wasn't very nice. Mummy and daddy never tried to throw spells at him like that._

_However, sadly for Harry, the ceiling started to cave in. Chunks were falling down. Harry hoped that none of them would hit him or his baby brother, but one of the chunks caught Percy on his right cheek. He started to cry even harder, as he had been crying non-stop every since the man in black walked in._

Harry Potter woke up in his bed at Potter mansion. He was back in the bed he had grown up in. The bed that he didn't need to have grown up in. For because of the claims that Lord Voldemort made and the dream that Harry just had, it was obvious. Percy Potter wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived.

Albus Dumbledore had chosen the wrong twin.

**So that's chapter 6. I hope you enjoyed it. Merry Christmas to everybody and a Happy New Year. I doubt that I'll update this quickly again, but I felt bad for making everybody wait nearly six months for an update, so I tried to get this chapter up really quickly. I guess that's what happens when you're bored and having nothing to do other then sit around at home. I wrote this all in one day…**

**Don't forget to review! Reviews make me smile and want to write more.**


	8. The Flamels

**So Chapter seven is here! Plus it was done in less than a month this time.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**I have a rather unfortunate notice. My Beta is too busy to Beta me, I guess is the only way I can put it. So, I'm looking for a new beta! If you'd to Beta for this story, just say so in a review or send me a message. Especially since I don't have the best grammar.**

Twin Trios

Chapter 7

"Concentrate Harry," encouraged Lily Potter. "You can do it. Just remember that you have to really _want _the object. Will it to do your biding."

Harry and his mother were currently in the living room, practicing the fourth year spells that Harry was struggling with. The summoning charm was one that he was having the most trouble with. He could only do it successfully ten percent of the time, which wasn't good enough. You could never know when it could save your life.

While they were doing this, Percy had invited Ray over. They were out playing a two-on-two Quidditch match with his father and Sirius. Harry remembered what Ray had done as soon as he got here.

"_What are you doing here?" he asked rudely, not caring that Harry was part of the hosting company and could make life difficult if he choose to._

"_I live here," Harry responded in a tone of voice that clearly stated 'what kind of idiot are you.'_

_Ray still looked at him like he didn't belong. "I don't get why someone like you, a slimy snake, is still allowed to live with someone as great as Percy. Did you defeat You-Know-Who this school year like Percy? Slytherins like you should be licking Percy's boot."_

_Harry stared at him, trying not to show the shock. He was surprised that Ray had taken it to this new level and on Harry's home territory too. The guy had no tact, and what he had just said was uncalled for in Harry's opinion. Not thinking there could be any good outcome from a remark, Harry slowly backed away, making sure that Ray didn't leave his eye sight._

"_That's right!" Ray taunted. "You should just runaway, you useless snake."_

_Harry finally got to the end of the hall. He grabbed his left arm with his right hand and squeezed it, trying really hard to keep his temper. As soon as he was out of Ray's sight he turned and ran upstairs._

"I'm trying mum," Harry whined. "I don't get it. This is the first charm that I had trouble with. What am I doing wrong?"

"The summoning charm is probably the most difficult fourth year spell Harry. It's harder to do it on demand then in pressured situations. In pressured situations, you can do things that you've never imagined."

Harry took a death breath to calm himself and tried again.

"Accio" he said as he pointed his wand at the dictionary that his mother was trying to have him summon. The book shuddered a bit then stayed where it was, unyielding in the war Harry had launched. He glared at the book again.

"Harry," his mother reminded him again, a bit of amusement creeping into her voice. "You won't get anywhere by glaring at the book. It's not going jump to you. Have a clear mental picture of the book obeying you command."

Harry did what she said, never really having thought of it like that before. He could see the dictionary flying off the ledge where it sat, pages fluttering while it glided to Harry's outstretch hand.

"Accio!" he said with extra passion. The dictionary slowly, but surely levitated and glided towards Harry's hand.

"Yes!" He cried out with joy. He did a little happy dance while his mother laughed. Just then Percy, Ray and James came in. The three looked a bit tired, but they still had enough energy to be laughing and joking around. Harry calmed down, trying to look more dignified then he did a few moments ago. When the three Gryffindors noticed them they calmed down as well.

After a few minutes of silence, Lily finally spoke to them.

"Would you boys like something to eat?" she said, trying to be polite to them.

"Yeah," James replied. "I'd like some peanut butter sandwiches for the man who defeated You-Know-Who during the school year. Only gifted people can do that, Perce." Harry stifled a laugh while his father gave Percy a huge slap on the back. Percy smiled and took it all in.

Lily got up and went to the kitchen. In less than a minute and a staring contest later she was back with the peanut butter sandwiches that his father had so politely asked for. The three boys dug in and started to eat like there was no tomorrow.

Harry and Lily stared with disgust. The three boys had finished ten sandwiches in less than three minutes. Then they resumed talking like it was nothing.

"So Ray," James said, looking straight at Harry. "Tell me again what Percy did to save the stone at school." Percy's chest puffed out. Harry had a theory that if Percy ever was able to turn into an animagus, it would be a Peacock since he spent so much time strutting about.

"Well," Ray started. "It all began when we heard a noise on the third floor corridor. We went to see what it was, and at the last second we saw someone disappear. A harp was already playing, so we just went down through the hole, knowing the person who was trying to sneak down there couldn't be doing anything good. So we ran into some devil's snare, and after a heroic fight, Gabriel got us out. Although we were about to get out too," he finished lamely, before going back to his heroic tale.

"After that, there were some keys that had wings. Percy, being the amazing seeker who should've won his Quiddtich matches if not for some cheater," (He threw Harry a dirty look) "went and caught the thing no problem. Next was the chess set."

"Okay okay," Lily said, stopping Ray from stroking Percy's ego even more then he already had. "We've all heard Percy's amazing story at least twenty times this summer. James tells it all the time, and how proud we are of our little hero."

His mother sure was right about that. Harry's father had taken every opportunity to remind his son about why Percy was an amazing Gryffindor while Harry was just a slimy little snake. At least once every day, Harry heard the story.

Harry turned and walked out of the room, though his head kept peaking over his shoulder to make sure that his father, his brother and Ray didn't try anything. They didn't, not with Lily there. Harry knew that his father did not like to sleep on the couch.

!#$%^&*

Harry woke up, hearing a noise. For the first time since the ending of the school year, he had had a dreamless sleep and was not pleased to have it disturbed. However, the owl more than made up for it.

It was a gorgeous owl, clearly over ten years old. He had a look of intelligence in his eyes. The bird didn't even set off Hedwig like the owl that Hermione had sent him had. His beloved owl (a birthday present from his mother) was very protective of her personal space bubble, which just so happened to be Harry's entire room.

Thinking it must be trustworthy, Harry reached out to take the letter from its leg that was being offered. The owl looked expectantly at him, its eyes telling him that it wanted a payment. When nothing came forth, the eyes started to narrow and the owl visibly tensed.

Stumbling, Harry quickly got up and reached for Hedwig's treats, hoping they would satisfy the angry owl. Hedwig hooted, obviously telling Harry that those were for her and her only, but he ignored her. Once the other owl had eaten the treats, it went back to observing quietly.

To keep peace with his companion, Harry took out two owl treats and gave them to her. After making sure he was forgiven, Harry turned the letter that was sitting on his bed.

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_We are pleased to hear that our stone was not missing. Our old friend Albus Dumbledore contacted us with the request to borrow it for a 'test' as he put it. While we were extremely reluctant, he had done us a favour a few years ago, so we had no choice due to the magical contract that had been created._

_We would like to meet the young man that made sure the drink of immortality didn't fall into the wrong hands. If you would be interested in meeting us, then spill a drop of blood onto this page. If it believes you are Harry Potter, then it will give you instructions of how to proceed. If not… the letter won't be as friendly._

_Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel_

Harry's eyes were as wide as saucers before he took control of himself. He could almost hear his mother chiding him for showing so much emotion. But he didn't care. Harry was alone and nobody could see him. He had just received a letter from two of the greatest magical people in history. And they wanted to meet him!

With a bit of hesitation, Harry reached under his pillow and picked up his wand. He then cast a minor cutting curse at his arm. His blood spilled onto the page, which started to glow a bright red colour. Then it stopped.

Harry looked again at the letter and was disappointed to see that there were only three sentences added.

_This letter is a portkey. To activate it you must only say Stone. Beware, the letter will activate as soon as you say it so choose the time carefully._

Harry looked at the time. It was two in the morning. His mother would be the only one to notice if he was missing in the morning. Even if Percy and his father noticed, they wouldn't care. However, Harry thought it would be a good idea to leave a note for his mother.

$ _Dear Mother,_

_Do not worry about me. I have gone to visit some people and am perfectly safe. Enjoy your day._

_Harry _$

Hoping that would be enough to satisfy his mother, he put it on his bed. All traces of tiredness were gone from his eyes. He was wide awake, looking forward to his adventure that was about to take place.

However, before he could leave Harry needed to do one more thing. It was too rash and Gryffindor-ish to just rush into this without a plan or back up.

$ _Callidus, get your little butt down here. _$

The basilisk, which had been sleeping behind Harry's bed, made a noise of annoyance. He was not pleased about having his beauty sleep interrupted.

$ _What is it Harry! You know how much I love to sleep. _$

$ _You sleep like a human teenager Callidus. $ _Harry told him with a smirk. Callidus just glared even harder at the insult. $_ However, I thought you might like to go visit the Flamels. _$

Without saying anything, Callidus slithered over to Harry and raised his head, waiting to get picked up. Harry leaned over, knowing that he had won this round of the daily debates of Harry and Callidus. He knew that Callidus secretly loved it… at least, that's what he thought.

With that, he took out his wand and put it on the parchment. Taking a deep breath, he said the code word.

With a flash, the tiny little bedroom in Potter Manor was vacant.

!#$%^&*

Harry regained his footing, almost tumbling to the ground because of the wild ride that was called a portkey. He had never taken one before, only the floo so he wasn't sure what to expect. He had braced himself for a wild ride, but even that wasn't enough to prepare him. He took the paper that had brought him here, folded it into quarters, and put it in his pocket.

He straightened up and observed his surroundings. He was in front of a green door. The house that it protected was moderate size, but was on top of the hill. There were trees all around the bottom of the hill. The hill had boulders that were the size of a grown man scattered around. Harry turned around and knocked on the door, his excitement not bearable anymore.

He heard someone walking to the door. At the last second he had a moment of comment sense and took out his wand just in case. The door opened.

A man that Harry thought to look like he was in his late thirty's was at the door. He had blue eyes, short brown hair and was around the height of Harry's father. He had a wand in his right hand, ready to be used at a moment's notice. He spotted Harry.

"Who are you?" he asked not too politely with his eyes narrowed.

"Hello sir. I'm Harry Potter."

The man looked at Harry like he was kidding. Then he started to shake his head in disbelief.

"You expect me to believe that a scrawny kid like you saved one of the most important and unique stones on earth?" he asked with a smirk. "Stupefy."

Harry tried to bring up his wand, but from a range of two feet he never really had a chance.

!#$%^&*

"Nicolas!" he heard as his vision was about to come into focus. "You can't stun every single person that comes knocking at our door for interrogation."

It sounds like a woman was scolding the legendary alchemist. She sounded patient, but hopeless, as though she knew that she wasn't going to make any progress on this topic.

"But Penny!" The man that had stunned Harry answered. "He claimed to be the person that saved the stone!"

Harry groaned. The back of his head hurt. The slight noise distracted the two people arguing and forced them to look at him. Harry raised his hand and waved it around, trying to search for his wand.

"It's on the bedside table," the kind woman told him. He looked up, grabbed his wand and got into a defense position. Well, as much as he could just being stunned from two feet away and just got out of bed.

"Whoa," said the woman in a gentle voice. She was around the same height as the guy who had stunned him and to Harry mildly attractive. "There's no need to be alarmed. We are not here to harm you, despite the introduction that Nicolas here gave you."

It was at that moment that Harry realized who they were. He had obviously been delivered at the Flamel's house as promised, but he had thought that the man had just been a butler of some sort. Not the real person that he had basically saved his life.

"You're the Flamels!" he told them. The woman smiled kindly. It was clear to Harry who was the more social of the married couple.

"Thank you for letting me know," was the answer that Nicolas gave him. "I'm pretty sure that I know who I am. However, you're off topic. Who are you and why are you here?"

"I told you already, you know, before you stunned me. I'm Harry Potter."

The woman, who Harry now knew to be Perenelle, looked a bit surprised but went along with it anyways.

"You two sent me a letter stating that you would like to meet me in person, to see the person who saved your stone." Harry stated. "How are you going to do this?"

Nicolas studied Harry. Perhaps he was reevaluating his opinion of Harry. But it was Perenelle that answered Harry's question.

"We're going to teach you how to deposit a memory into a pensieve, than watch it. Hopefully that will give us clearer idea of what happened."

They lead Harry into another room. It had black walls and desks everywhere. Harry was led to the one that had a silver bowl filled with a watery blue liquid. Carved into the bowl, Harry could see a very complex pattern of what he believed to be ancient runes. Beside the bowl were vials of a trap silver string. Harry assumed these to be the memories.

"Now," said Perenelle. "It's very simple to take a memory into a pensieve. You must put your wand to your head and think of the thing that you would like to show us. You mustn't think of all the details, just what happened."

Harry followed the instructions and was impressed to see a long silver thread on the tip of his wand. Following his instinct, he guided his wand to just above the pensieve and then stopped sharply. The thread kept going though, falling right into the bowl.

"Good job Harry," Perenelle said. Then she nudged Nicolas, who gave a grunt that could be taken well or badly. "Nicolas and I are going to go into the memory and see what happened at the end of your school year. We'll be back in a few minutes."

Perenelle had stretch 'a few minutes. The memory that Harry was around thirty minutes, and that's how long they were in the pensieve for. It was almost like one of those muggle movies that Harry's mother had made him watch, but real life instead.

Finally, the old married couple appeared back in the room with Harry, who was twiddling his thumbs to pass the time. Nicolas looked at Harry in an entirely different light, obviously having rethought his opinion of Harry. Perenelle, on the other hand, just looked pleased.

"Harry," began Nicolas. "I'm sorry that I stunned you. Being alive for over six hundred years can make someone a little paranoid. Remember, the elixir only gives us immortality from age, not attacks and such. You're small for your age, so I didn't believe that someone your size could beat the worst dark wizard in head to head combat, not matter how weak he was."

Harry thought for a moment and tried to imagine it from Nicolas's point of view. He had been alive for six centuries and counting. People probably would like to steal the stone and wouldn't be surprised if some of them actually have attempted it. And to top those two off, Nicolas just learned that someone he thought he could trust with his life had tampered with his stone just for an experiment of some sort.

"It's okay, I guess," Harry told him. "I think I can understand why you reacted like that. So what do you guys think about the memory?"

"Let's start with the stone first," Perenelle suggested. "We know that it is safe, but Albus thinks it is missing so we will probably have to go into hiding from him so he thinks we're dead. But the thing that really bothers me…"

"…is the fact that it seemed so artificial. Almost like Albus had set the whole thing up to see how his little golden boy who do," finished Nicolas for his wife. "I don't know what he would've done if Quirrell had actually managed to get the stone. Let me assure you Harry, the thing you sent us was the real stone, not some fake that Albus created to trick Quirrell just in case."

"But there's one thing that's more threatening," Perenelle continued, even though she was obviously worried about the behavior that Dumbledore had displayed. "Voldemort claimed that you were the real Boy-Who-Lived. You would think that he knows who defeated him, wouldn't you?"

Harry was quiet for a minute, and then answered. "Yes, he was telling the truth. His words somehow sparked one of my memories and I had a dream about that night. The scar that Percy has was from falling debris."

Nicolas looked thoughtful. "Do you have a scar anywhere?"

Harry was startled by the question, but never the less pulled aside his bangs aside to show them the lightning bolt scar that he had had as long as he could remember. Nicolas took out his wand, causing Harry to draw his as well. Nicolas smiled.

"I'm glad to see that you aren't a _complete_ idiot." He put an emphasize on the 'complete.' "But in this case you don't have to worry. I'm just going to be casting some diagnostic charms to see if there's any dark magic in your scar." He flicked his wand, followed by a swish. Harry felt his scar do something funny, sort of puff out for five seconds.

Perenelle and Nicolas exchanged a look.

"This is really bad Harry," Perenelle explained. "A black glow means that your scar has a high amount of dark magic in it. Wait here." She commanded.

Nicolas and her went to the corner and looked at some papers. Then they had some sort of argument in hushed tones. Harry could tell it was a very controversial topic in between them. After five minutes of hushed debating, Perenelle came back to see him, Nicolas glaring daggers at his wife's back.

"I'm sorry about that, Harry," she said sweetly. "Nicolas and I have been arguing about a certain something for years now. You'll most likely learn about some day, okay? The evidence in your scar really helps my case."

"Umm… okay?" Harry said. He was starting to get really tired from the lack of sleep. His eye lids started to drop.

"Oh you poor dear," Perenelle said. "You must be so tired! I almost forgot that you can't get by on five hours of sleep like Nicolas and I can. You still have the portkey that brought you here?"

Harry reached in one of his pockets and pulled out the neatly folded paper. He showed it to Perenelle. She smiled and tapped it with her wand.

"There. Now it's a two way portkey. Every time you want to use it, you just need to add a drop of blood and you can come see us for whatever reason. Whether you want some help training for something or just want to talk about some problems in your life."

"Thank you," Harry said. He was actually a bit confused. Why were these two legends treating him so well? He had thought that they would think that they are above him like Percy did. "I think it's time for me to go to bed. I'm really tired."

He put his wand to the paper, and then remembered that he needed to add some blood before it would be usable to him. He gently cast a weak cutting curse like he had earlier that evening and allowed the blood to drop onto the page.

"Stone."

Harry disappeared from the house in a whirl like he had arrived. After what seemed like forever he landed on his floor. It was then he thought of something.

$ _Callidus, _$ he hissed. $ _Why didn't you come out when I got stunned? They could've done anything to me if that hadn't been the Flamels. _$ He then rolled up his sleeve to find his friend sleeping, still wrapped around his wrist. Harry thought it was a good idea, so he changed into his pajamas and went to bed.

!#$%^&*

"Expecto Patronum."

Harry was once again practicing charms with his mother. Also, once again he was stuck. No matter what he thought of while casting the charm that was the only defense to Dementors, he couldn't even produce a weak mist, let alone a full out patronus that save his soul.

"What am I doing wrong!" he asked his mother. "I'm thinking the happiest thought that I can!"

"What are you thinking of?"

"When Callidus and I first met." He answered, looking at her in the eye.

To his surprised, she looked slightly confused.

"Who's Callidus?" she asked.

Callidus, hearing his name, stuck his head out of Harry's sleeve, his permanent home. He made some weird waving gesture, catching Lily's eye.

"Oh," she said in understanding. "I didn't realize that Callidus was the name of your snake. Now, try again. Maybe that memory isn't powerful enough?"

"Well sorry!" Harry said, trying to not get any more frustrated then he already was. "I don't have a whole lot of happy memories, let alone powerful happy memories."

That caused his mother to have a slightly hurt look across her face, but it was gone so quickly Harry couldn't be sure if it happened or if it was his imagination.

"Just try for a different memory. What makes you happy?"

Harry thought for a moment before answering.

"Well, Callidus does as he's been my companion for a very long time. There's also Ron and Hermione, my two friends at school." At this, Harry's mother started to chuckle.

"Yes," she said. "Trust me, I've heard all terrible things that you and your two friends do. The 'terrible trio' as Percy and his two friends have nicknamed you. But anyways, why don't you try to think of a different happy memory. The one that you've chosen obviously isn't strong enough."

Harry pondered what else made him happy. Callidus, but he had already learned that he wasn't a strong enough memory. His mother did when they were alone, just because she didn't have to play Gryffindor then. Ron and Hermione… He hadn't tried a memory with them yet. Maybe he should try the one with the first train ride going to Hogwarts.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Harry felt something change. A warm glow sort of tingled as his magic tried to force his happy memory into a solid shield. A tiny bit of white mist came out of Harry's wand. He could only hold it for three seconds though. When he let go of it, he slumped in the chair, exhausted.

"Good job, Harry," his mother told him. "That spell is extremely difficult. I know you have the technique down now. However, Harry, I don't think your magic is strong enough yet to be able to fully cast that spell. You're probably going to have to wait until late in your third year."

Harry had fallen asleep on the couch.

!#$%^&*

"It's not fair!" screamed Harry in frustration. He had grabbed his pillow and threw it across the room. He saw Callidus climbing up to the highest point in his room, hoping to not be hit by either the flying projectiles or become one of them.

Harry had kept in the feelings all day. He put up with his fame obsessed brother in public. He didn't have the support of his mother like he would like, because she needed to display her public image and couldn't be seen being friendly with the Slytherin twin. Nobody had asked him who he was, or recognized him. Granted, that is the way he normally liked it, but it wasn't really that that he was angry at.

He had seen the Granger family. He vaguely remembered what Hermione's parents looked like from the meeting last year, but it was the fact that Gabriel was with them that confirmed it. But there was no Hermione.

It was similar to the Weasleys. He had tracked them down and even witnessed a fight between Lucius Malfoy and the Arthur Weasley. It had been obvious that Malfoy was goading the elder Weasley, but he still took the bait. Also, Ron wasn't even with them. The only good thing that happened today for Harry was when Ginny and he made eye contact; she gave him a huge smile and a wave, despite not hearing from him all summer.

He grabbed a book off one of his selves, and threw it across the room, aiming for the wall. However, his aim was off and he accidently hit his desk. It did nothing to improve his mood.

He walked the two steps that it took to go across his room and started to pick up the papers that had fallen onto the ground. As he picked them up, one of them caught his eye. It was a white envelope with his name on it. He threw the rest of the papers onto the desk and went to sit on his bed.

He ripped open the letter and pulled out the piece of parchment that was inside.

_Dear Son,_

_I hope that it is your 11__th__ birthday and you are reading this. I hope you don't before then because the knowledge that is in this letter will drive you crazy to have to wait._

_You can speak parseltongue Harry. Our entire family knows that. But only I why that is. You see, everyone thinks I'm muggleborn. I guess they're right, but technically I'm from an extremely long line of squibs. All of which were from the Salazar Slytherin line. I am a descendant from the elder Slytherin line; therefore you are an heir to Salazar Slytherin._

_How do I know this? There is a place called the Chamber of Secrets, located in the second floor bathroom, more commonly known as Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Say open in parseltongue and the entrance will open. Happy exploring!_

_Your Mother,_

_Lily Potter (Nee Evans)_

Harry sat back and thought about the letter. The directions to the Chamber of Secrets were useless, since he had forgotten the letter and opened it a year late. However, it did confirm his suspicions. His mother knew of her Slytherin heritage.

!#$%^&*

'Five more to go,' thought Harry.

He had just crossed of the date on his calendar. Five more days of Percy and his father. He thought he could last that long. He hummed happily to himself and went to get something to eat. However, when he got to the kitchen he was greeted by a strange site.

There was a house elf in the kitchen. It had big round green eyes and seemed very tense. Sort of like someone who knew they were doing something that they would get into trouble for but were doing it anyways.

A couple of seconds before Harry entered the kitchen something caught the house elf's eye. He turned and threw himself at someone or something that had just entered.

"Percy Potter sir!" cried the house elf in a squeaky voice. "It is a great honour to meet you, a great honour indeed! To meet the wizard that defeated the Dark Lord was an honour that Dobby never thought he would have."

Percy replied through clenched teeth.

"Who are you? How did you get through our security? And yes, you are very honour to meet me, one of the most powerful wizards alive." Harry had actually been surprised at the good questions that Percy was trying to ask the house elf until he added that last sentence.

"I am Dobby the house elf." Was the enthusiastic answer that Percy received. "I am here to give you a warning... Bad things are about to be happening at Hogwarts! The great Percy must not go back! He must not go back to Hogwarts!"

The elf got more and more hysterical as his rant went on. He had an urgency in his voice that Harry knew couldn't be faked.

"You want me not to go back to Hogwarts?" asked Percy in disbelief. "You're nuts elf! Hogwarts is a great, safe place where I can pull pranks… I mean learn!"

Harry risked a peek around the corner. The elf had its hand raised, like he would need to attack or defend at a moment's notice. Percy, on the other hand, had his chin up and arms crossed.

Dobby looked saddened, but then had an angry look.

"Dobby does not want to do this to the great Percy Potter, but Percy Potter gives him no choice!"

With that, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The room became lighter, but it was so fast Harry almost thought it was imagination. The elf disappeared with a large crack.

!#$%^&*

Harry was just getting into bed when he heard a knock on his door, which was open ajar.

"May I come in?" his mother asked. The past summer had been good in that aspect for Harry. He had spent a lot of time with his mother, finally knowing his true heritage. He had learned from her that the library in the chamber was something that was worth exploring, and that while he hadn't shown it, Percy could probably speak parseltongue too, so watch out.

"Of course," He answered while he got under his sheets.

"Harry," she started. "I hope your summer was nicer than normal this year."

"It was fine mum." He said.

"I hope you do those things that we discussed during the school year, right?" she asked him with a wink, causing Harry to smile.

"Of course mum," was the answer that Lily Potter received. She could only hope that all the time she had spent with her son during the summer had made him a bit happier then she knew he had been during the previous years. She had suggested to James that he spent a little more time with Percy, and he had agreed without question.

"Now," Lily said, slightly more serious. "I must warn you. You are not the only person that can speak parseltongue at Hogwarts."

Harry sat up alarmed.

"What!"

"Think, Harry. Percy can speak it and understand it too since he's also a descendant. I can't choose who gets the gift you know."

Harry sat there and processed that his brother could also talk to snakes. The idea had never occurred to him, yet made perfect sense. He would have to be more aware of that now that he knew that his twin could understand and speak the snake language.

"And also, Harry, what really happened at the end of last year?"

He looked at his mother, surprised. She had taken in Percy's entire story like it was true and had not asked Harry about it all summer.

"You know what happened," he managed to stuttered out, though he knew that denial was pointless since his mother already seemed to know something else had happened.

"Harry," she said and looked at him. "You know I am not that stupid. Please tell me the truth? I didn't ask all summer because I was hoping that you would tell me on your own. But since that didn't happen, I'm asking you."

"I-I-I followed Percy on that night," he half lied. Technically he had followed his brother, though not like his mother would think. She bought it. "But when he got to face Voldemort, he fainted when he saw Voldemort." Harry wasn't sure if he had fainted or if Quirrell had stunned him, but this made him look worse.

"I just couldn't let Voldemort get the stone. So Callidus and I tricked him, allowing Callidus time to bite him. That's what really happened."

His mother bought all of it. Harry couldn't believe that he had just done that.

"Well," Lily said, standing up and walking to Harry's door. "Have a nice year Harry."

!#$5^&*

"Hurry up Percy!" cried his mother up the stairs. We have to floo over to the station soon!"

"Come on, Perce," Harry's father added. "We need to get there in time to have some time to pause for the press before you leave for Hogwarts."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," came an annoyed voice from the second floor. Finally, after another ten minutes of waiting, the human that Harry had to call his twin appeared in the doorway. He had clearly taken his time to make sure that he looked what he thought was good. Harry thought no matter what he did, he would always be ugly.

Percy strutted over to the floo, took some floo powder from the jar and called out King's Cross. His father quickly followed, not wanting to miss out on the press that came with being Percy's father. Lily Potter quickly followed, not wanting her husband or son to say anything stupid, though she did wink at Harry, causing him to smile.

Harry was the last one in the house. He wouldn't be back until the following summer. The thought made him smile and jump up and down. Harry also realized that if he wanted he could retreat to the Flamels and learn something new. He went into the floo and called out the proper destination.

!#$%^&*

Harry came out of the floo he normally did- stumbling and trying not to throw up. He quickly found his balance and looked up. His family was already surrounded by the reporters from various newspapers. Having already said goodbye to his mother at the mansion the night before, he dragged his trunk to the train and found a compartment, hoping Ron and Hermione would come and find him. He put a locking spell on the door and opened his trunk, getting out an interesting wizarding magazine that he had found during the summer called the Quibbler.

He was reading an interesting article on the new findings of Crumple Horned Snorkacks when he felt the train start to move. A couple minutes later, he heard a knocking on the door and looked up. It was Ron and Hermione.

He got up and opened the door. They came in and put their stuff on the racks like Harry, then sat down. After a few minutes of looking out at the scenery that they were passing, Hermione broke the silence.

"So how were your summers, guys?" Hermione asked. "Mine was fantastic. My… twin was over at other people's houses so much that it was like I was an only child! We went to fairs, my mom and I went shopping and best of all, while Gabriel was at the Weasleys, they took me to the United States for an entire week!"

Hermione hadn't changed that much over the summer. She had grown a couple of inches and her face had changed a bit, but not a lot. Besides, she had already proved that she could talk like she used to, all in one breath. Ron, on the other hand, had grown four inches, yet still looked pretty thin.

"Glad to know that yours was so nice," Ron muttered bitterly. "I was grounded for the entire summer just for getting sorted into Slytherin ten months ago. One meal per day, but sometimes I was lucky and Ginny was able to slip me something."

The trio descended into an awkward silence. It seemed that Ron had not had a good summer at all, while Harry and Hermione had extremely good summers.

"Actually," Harry said. "I got to meet some people that were grateful to me this summer. Something really rare." It took a moment for his two friends to realize what he was talking about.

"No way!" Ron said. "You met with the Flamels?" Harry smiled and nodded.

"You're so lucky!" Hermione squealed. "I can't even begin to think about all the things they must know and could teach you."

"Calm down guys," Harry said. "It's not like I spent time with them or anything. It was just that they wanted to meet the person that had saved the stone." He failed to mention the other things that the Flamels and him had talked about. The compartment descended into silence.

The train chugged along for another five minutes before the silence was broken by a red headed girl.

In fact, as soon as she saw them, trunk in tow, her face lit up and she started to head into the compartment. Unfortunately for her, the door was still shut and she ran into it, falling to the ground. Harry, Ron and Hermione started to laugh, though Harry got up at the same time to help her up. He opened the door and held out his hand. He took it.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up." He told her.

"Sorry. I wasn't allowed to board the train with Ron, otherwise I would've gotten in trouble for being friendly with the Slytherin." She explained. Harry took her trunk and placed it beside his. He then motioned for her to sit down.

"So what did you do this summer Harry?" Ginny asked. "I didn't really hear from you all summer."

"Yeah," Harry said guiltily. "I was really busy and I didn't want you to get in trouble because of me. Besides, we have all year right?" Ginny smiled.

"Yes we do." Then her face fell. "Depending on what house I get into."

"Ginny, it doesn't matter to me what house you get into at Hogwarts. Right Ron, Hermione?" Ron was sleeping, because apparently Harry and Ginny aren't interesting enough to listen to yet. Hermione, on the other hand, was being Hermione and reading a book. She just nodded absent mindedly.

Ginny snorted then said," Nice to know that they're so supportive."

Below the confident tone, Harry could hear that she was nervous, like any other first year.

"So what did you do this summer?" Ginny repeated. "You dodged the question."

"Guilty as charged." Harry said, smiling. It was just something about the red headed girl. He just couldn't stop smiling.

"My mother and I spent a lot of time together. She taught me a bit of charms. But other than that I just sort of read and thought about things a bit."

Ginny smiled at him, making him smile once again.

"That sounds nice."

The two friends sat in silence, until Harry asked her if she had seen the last Holyhead Harpies match. Her eyes lit up, much to Harry's enjoyment, and she went off on a rant about how certain people need to learn how to play Quidditch.

!#$%^&*

Harry sat at the Slytherin table with Ron and Hermione, patiently waiting for the sorting. He was especially interested in Ginny's, not caring what so ever for the others. He had his fingers crossed for Slytherin, and he would not be surprised if that's where she ended up. He would hate for her to be exposed to the opinions of Gryffindors. He trusted her not to listen to all the bad things that the lions said about his house, but he feared that she would eventually believe it. After all, she did live in a house of almost all Gryffindors and had been taught growing up that Gryffindor equaled good while Slytherin was bad. He was jolted out of his musing by the doors to the great hall being shoved open.

The first years marched into the room, side by side down the middle of the tables. As it had been for the second years, Professor McGonagall was at the head. She walked up the three stairs that elevated the teacher's seats from the students and turned around, scroll in hand. He spotted Ginny's flaming red hair in the crowd.

He then looked over to the Gryffindor table. He noticed immediately that his twin and his two comrades weren't sitting at their normal spot. He scanned the table and was surprised to learn that they weren't anywhere to be seen.

"Where are the Gryffindor trio?" Harry asked himself more than anyone else. However, it was actually a Slytherin girl whom Harry thought her name was Daphne Greengrass who answered.

"I heard that they had been locked in their compartment on the train. No matter what the prefects did they weren't able to open it. If you notice, Dumbledore isn't here either, so I'm guessing he went to help them personally."

Harry turned to her to answer but was suddenly unable to say anything. Daphne had long black hair and crystal clear eyes that looked like they could take you down no problem.

"Urm… okay" Harry said while blushing.

Just then, the sorting hat then opened its mouth and launched into the song, saving Harry from further. Harry tuned it out, as the singing was terrible and the lyrics weren't really worth listening to. It probably always said the same thing: characteristics of all the houses and something about fining where you belong. He heard applause and started to pay attention again.

Professor McGonagall called out the first name, was a short kid with black hair named Justin Adams. He went up and after half a minute or so it called RAVENCLAW. Harry, once again, started to tune out and hum happily to himself. He was shaken by Hermione after a while.

"It's Ginny's turn," she hissed to him quietly, though still turning a few heads.

Indeed, her name had been called and she was walking up to the hat. She picked it up and sat down while placing the old thing on her head. And then the hall waited.

They waited for several minutes. The hat seemed to be tethering on two houses, not being able to find one that was better than the other. Harry must realize that she was really well balanced for it to not decide. Then finally it made the decision, though not really sounding sure of itself.

"SLYTHERIN."

**And there's chapter seven. Personally, I don't like reading about the sorting hat's songs, so I didn't bother so write one myself or ask somebody to borrow theirs. Sorry if you like that part. I hope that the time between updates was more reasonable this time.**

**Just a random thing: Can anybody tell me how to pronounced Perenelle Flamel? Is it Peren-ELLE as in, she in French, or Peren-ell-Y?**

**I hope you enjoyed it and as always, review!**


	9. Ginny's First Week

**I have had some people who've told me that I have made some errors in my story, overlapping some facts about Percy being a Parselmouth and Harry having trouble with the summoning charm. I am only human, and I had forgotten about those details. Percy CAN speak Parseltongue and Harry JUST learned the summoning charm. I went back and changed the summoning charm, but still haven't gotten off my lazy butt for the Parselmouth. I apologize, but after all I'm only human.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my Beta (who I now call new again), Teufel1987. The help is much appreciated.**

Twin Trios

Chapter 8

The hall erupted in turmoil. No one could believe that for the second year in a row a Weasley had been sorted in Slytherin; especially the Gryffindor Weasleys. For some reason, they had not been surprised when Ron had been sorted into the house of snakes but the fact that Ginny had also been placed there came as a major shock, judging by their reactions. Ray stood up.

"I demand a re-sort!" he cried out. "There is no way that my sister is an evil snake like that traitor brother of mine." The headmaster quickly stood up and the hall quieted down, though much slower than normal.

"Your request is granted, Mr. Weasley. Ms. Weasley, please place the hat on your head once again." While everybody had been complaining and discussing the surprising sorting, Ginny had been able to take the hat off and was slowly making her way towards the Slytherin table, and more specifically, towards Harry, Ron and Hermione.

However, seeing she had been ordered by none other than the Headmaster, she didn't have a choice. Ginny spun around and headed back up to the stood. In just less than a minute, the hat spoke again.

"SLYTHERIN," This time it was positive (at least, that's how it acted) and even a little bit angry that it had been forced to re-sort someone. For the second time that night, Ginny took off the hat, but this time she ran to the Slytherin table before anybody could stop her. The commotion dimmed after a while, and Professor McGonagall called out the next name. Harry thought he saw Dumbledore's face twist in displeasure at Ginny's sorting, but couldn't be sure.

After the sorting was finished and Transfiguration teacher had taken the stool and hat away, the Headmaster stood up.

"Welcome," He started. "To another year at Hogwarts; I trust that all of your heads have emptied out over the summer and you are back ready to learn. But before we get into all of that, dig in!"

He spread his old arms out and the food magically appeared on the tables from the kitchen. Harry's mouth watered instantly. The food that the elves prepared here was even better then the food that was made at home by his mother. Not that he would ever tell her that.

"Pass the chicken, Harry!" Ron asked him, his eyes looking like he was in dreamland. Harry guessed that starving on one meal a day would really do that to a guy. Ron was a growing boy, after all. Harry was slightly taller than Ron, but when Harry looked at his family, he thought that if Ron had been fed properly for his entire life, then he would be six inches or so taller than Harry.

Harry complied with the hungry boys' wish, grabbing the cut up chicken and gave it to Ron, who then dumped some onto his plate before starting to eye up the mashed potatoes. Harry felt himself get tapped on the shoulder and turned around.

There stood Ginny, looking like she was doing her best not to cry. Her fists were clenched, looking like they wanted to punch someone.

"Can I sit with you guys?" she asked in a weak voice, sounding like she was afraid they would be too cool to sit with her and say no.

"Of course you can!" Harry exclaimed and moved over so she took the seat between Ron and him. She sat down and started to slowly take food, looking down. Harry was just about to ask her what was wrong when he heard something that would soon become an established routine.

"I'm telling you, Ronald, a woman finds men who can eat politely attractive! It doesn't make them embarrassed to go out into public and eat with their man!"

Hermione's voice could be heard even over the noise of the great hall. Harry groaned. Classes hadn't even started yet and his two best friends were already at each other's throats.

"Why should I care if I'm attractive or not Hermione? I just want to be me and if they don't like that then they can deal with it." Ron shot back.

'Not a bad point,' Harry thought. Ron might even be able to scoop out a victory in this contest. Which was rare, since he usually wins once or twice per month. They argue at least twice per day, and even though sometimes it's a draw, Hermione is often the winner. Ron seemed to be better at looking at the entire picture, unlike Hermione, but was much slower.

"Um, Harry?"

Harry turned back to the redhead. He had almost forgotten that she was there, having been so amused by the fact that his friends were at it already.

"What are they doing?" She continued. "Ron never argues with anybody…"

"That," Harry told Ginny, "Is called the 'Ron and Hermione argument game'. You see, although we're all best friends, they argue loads. Every month, I have a tally of who wins the most. Last year it was always Hermione." He paused. "But they don't know that, so Shh!"

Ginny giggled and looked away. When she looked back Harry noticed that her eyes didn't look as upset as they did when she had come to ask to sit with him.

"So why were you upset?" He asked then immediately regretted it. Ginny instantly looked down again and her eyes started to tear up, even though she managed to hold it in.

"It's the other Slytherin girls…" she started, looking anywhere but at Harry. "They were calling me names and things like that." Her tone clearly said that she didn't want to discuss it anymore. But Harry really couldn't help it.

"They are?" he commented frowning. "Ginny, tell me the next time that happens. I'll talk to them."

Ginny frowned, but nodded anyways. With that, the topic turned to much happier things.

"So you play seeker for Slytherin, right? I keep meaning to ask you about that! You got it in your first year, youngest in the century, right? You must be amazing."

Harry blushed and looked down modestly. "Well, yeah I guess I'm pretty good. I've never missed catching the snitch." Ginny looked at him with an admiration that made him slightly uncomfortable.

"But that's not to say that the other seekers aren't as good," he hurried on. "I just got to the snitch faster…" He trailed off, realizing that he wasn't really helping the point that he was trying to prove. He just sat back and began to eat his chicken again. He looked over at Ron and Hermione and saw that Ron had a smug look on his face and Hermione was sulking. Ron must've won the first argument of the year.

When everybody was done Dumbledore stood up.

"Once again, welcome to your new year at Hogwarts! I hope that your heads have all emptied over the summer and are ready to learn new material. I would like to remind all students that they are to stay clear from the forbidden forest on the grounds. This is for your own safety. Also, I would like to remind students that the full list of banned items is outside of Mr. Filch's office, if anyone would like to check."

He was looked at the Weasley twins for both of the standard announcements, though Harry knew that he really didn't expect them to obey the rules.

"Also, we have a new staff member this year. Bravely taking on the post of Defence against the Dark Arts, we have Gilderoy Lockhart." Almost the entire female population of the school clapped enthusiastically at this, while the males were looking less than pleased, not that everybody didn't know this already.

"Now, off to bed!" Dumbledore called out. Harry didn't need any encouragement. He stood up stretching as the students started to go to the dormitories for the night.

"Come on Ginny, follow us," Harry called out to his friend, knowing she wouldn't want to be with those jerks that were making fun of her and her family. Ginny obliged and quickly followed the Slytherin trio out of the hall, into the dungeons and then to the common room.

"Salazar," Hermione told the wall. It opened, and at the questioning look on Harry and Ron's faces, she explained "I heard it from a prefect upstairs."

They walked in.

"The girls sleep there, Ginny," Harry pointed to the left door. "And the guys sleep there. You're allowed to come into our dorms, but we aren't allowed in yours."

"Got it," Ginny confirmed, nodding her head. "I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll be heading off to bed, okay?" The trio that may soon become a quartet all agreed they had no problem with that, as they went to bed not even five minutes later.

!#$%^&*

Harry woke up with a start to find something moving in his bed. He grabbed his wand and lit up the tip, revealing his friend the basilisk.

$ Callidus, what are you doing in my bed? It's _two in the morning_! $ Harry complained. The snake didn't seem to care since he had slept a lot on the train. Now that Harry thought of it, it wasn't surprising that all that the snake wanted to do was sleep. He was on Harry's wrist a lot.

$ I thought you might like to know that I was going exploring, but maybe I shouldn't have bothered. $ He hissed annoyed that his kindness hadn't been appreciated.

$ No, it's not that. I $ Harry tried to salvage the situation. $ I was just surprised to wake up and find something moving in my bed. Where are you going exploring? $

$ The chamber, $ was the answer that Harry got. $ I want to see if I can wake and befriend the basilisk in there. Perhaps find out some nice hunting grounds too. $

$ Be careful $ Harry whispered.

Callidus slithered onto the floor, landing with a decent thud that somewhat surprised Harry that his dorm mates didn't wake up to. The snake then started to slither away, so Harry rolled over and went back to sleep.

!#$%^&*

When Harry came down in the morning he found Ginny curled up in an armchair, writing in what looked like a black book. 'Probably a diary,' Harry thought. 'I've heard that some girls are into that sort of thing.' When she saw him she quickly put it away.

"Good morning Harry," she said to him in a tone that suggested that it was anything but. She looked really tired and her hair was a mess. At the same time, a different girl came down the staircase.

"Good morning Harry," said a smiling Daphne Greengrass with her perfectly done silky black hair. Harry blushed and tried to answer, though nothing came out. Daphne didn't seem to mind though and just giggled as she passed Harry, which to Harry was sort of odd, for the Slytherin that was normally quiet.

"Umm… Good morning Ginny," he tried to say, though it came out as a croak. At least he managed to actually say something. Clearing his throat and regaining his composure, Harry turned back to Ginny.

"How was your night," he asked, dreading the answer. She obviously had had a rough night and was not enjoying the school year so far. 'But to be far,' Harry thought. 'It's only just started. We haven't even had a day of classes yet.'

"It could've been better," she admitted, looking down at her feet. "But nothing I couldn't handle."

Harry looked at her and tried to say as neutral as he could. "I'm sure." Just then Hermione came down and joined them, her book bag full in case they didn't have time to come back to the dorm and get their books.

"Good morning Harry, Ginny," she greeted them. A murmured good morning was the answer from both Harry and Ginny. They waited in silence for Ron, though Harry had a feeling that Ron really wouldn't be coming down unless Harry went and got him.

The door of the boy's dorm opened and the three Slytherins looked up to see who it was, hoping that it was Ron and Harry wouldn't have to go get him for once. Alas, it was not to be as a head of platinum blond hair appeared flanked by two dark haired individuals. They watched as it made its way downstairs until the face of its owner showed up.

"Potty, Mudblood and Weaslette!" Draco Malfoy almost looked gleeful at having the chance to make fun of another Weasley this year. His name did stutter ever so slightly on Harry's though, Harry was pleased to notice. It appeared that Malfoy had learned something last year, even though it seemed like he showed no sign of stopping.

When nobody answered, he continued while smirking. "You know, I was thinking about trying out for Quidditch this year. My position is Seeker, did you know? I think my new Nimbus 2001 broom would be able to beat that junk that the current seeker uses, wouldn't you?"

Harry clenched his fists, trying not to be baited by the aristocrat and doing something he would regret later on. Hermione did the same as her could hear the paper that she was holding being squished. Ginny, on the other hand had no experience in keeping her temper with Malfoy.

"Yeah right! The current seeker was able to get on the team by his talent, not by buying his way onto the team. Besides, why would they want a new one when the current one has never missed the snitch and won them the cup last year?"

Malfoy smirked and looked slightly pleased that he had managed to bait one of the three into an argument. "Because," he said with no small amount of cockiness. "I'm far more qualified then that half-blood that currently is on the team. And by the way, what would you know about money, Weaslette?"

Ginny stepped forward like she was going to punch him, but was pulled back by a combined effort of Harry and Hermione. By the time they had gotten her calmed down, Malfoy had probably fled to the great hall for breakfast.

"I'm going to go and get Ron," Harry announced, afraid if they gave their friend any longer they wouldn't have any breakfast. He walked up the stairs, skipping every other step. He opened the door with a squeak to find that all the other Slytherin boys where already up, except for his best friend of course.

He walked over to Ron's bed and poked him. Ron stirred, and murmured something in his sleep before rolling over and pulling the covers over his head. Not even bothering to try again, Harry got a bucket and filled it with water from his wand. He then proceeded to dump it on his friend.

Grumbling about stupid friends with water and a drying charm later, Ron and Harry made their way downstairs to where Ginny and Hermione were waiting. Hermione had roped Ginny into a conversation about what her classes are going to be like, probably to distract her from the rise Malfoy had gotten out of her.

The four of them walked to breakfast. The hall was moderately full, some people having already gotten their schedules and left, but it wasn't unheard of for people to have slept in and rushed on the first day of classes. After some breakfast, Snape handed out their schedules. He gave Harry a curt nod before moving on to the rest of the tables.

"Why?" Ron groaned. "Why do we always have to have our potions lessons with the Gryffindors? And we have to be with them during Defence against the Dark Arts too! Merlin help us!"

"Shut up Ron," Hermione snapped back. "They aren't that bad as long as the professor doesn't try to make us partner them." Ron for once didn't answer that but he did look at Hermione's time table, just to gasp.

"Why are all of the Defence against the Dark Arts lessons highlighted on your timetable?" he asked, incredulously. Hermione tried to keep a blank face, but her cheeks still tinted slightly red as she mumbled an excuse, hastily stuffing her timetable in her bag.

The trio walked Ginny to her first lesson, which was Transfiguration before going off to their Herbology class. They got there just before the bell, which was a good thing because if they didn't then Harry was pretty sure that Hermione wouldn't talk to Ron for a day.

"Hurry up you three," Professor Sprout called out to them. We're going to be in green house three today. Grab some earmuffs and we'll be off."

Harry grabbed the last pair of non-pink earmuffs, much to Ron's dismay and embarrassment. The class laughed at his unfortunate situation. Hermione, on the other hand had absolutely no problem with wearing pink earmuffs. In her opinion, they were only for protection so it didn't matter what colour they were.

"Come on Harry!" begged Ron as Professor Sprout led the class to greenhouse three. "Why can't you wear the pink earmuffs? Pink is… uh… totally your colour." He finished lamely.

Harry stopped and gave Ron a look that clearly told him that he wasn't going to be able to change Harry's mind so he shouldn't even waste his breath trying. Around them people chatted about what they thought they would be doing this lesson.

They all went into the greenhouse and saw a table right at the entrance.

"Gather round," Professor Sprout called out. About half of the Ravenclaw-Slytherin class obeyed, most being Slytherins. When the other people noticed what the ones who had listened were doing, they copied. Soon everyone was silent and ready for the first lesson of the year.

"Welcome to the first lesson of your second year at Hogwarts," the professor started out. "Today we will be studying Mandrakes. Who can tell what a Mandrake is?" Hermione raised her hand then waited patiently to be called on.

"A Mandrake is a plant that you may use in many potions. It is the main ingredient in the Rejuvenation potion that is used to cure people that have been petrified. The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Well said Ms Granger. Ten points to Slytherin. Now, today we are going to be planting baby Mandrakes. While their cries are not fatal, they can still knock you out for several hours. For this reason, everyone put your earmuffs on!"

The head of Hufflepuff demonstrated how to properly plant the baby Mandrake, then had them split into groups of three to give it a shot. Harry struggled a bit against the plant. In his opinion a plant that could kill you shouldn't be exposed to you when you're twelve!

When they were all done, they headed towards History of Magic, which Harry was expecting to be just as useless as last year. He was correct, of course. He used the time where the teacher is always lax to revise his transfiguration notes from last year.

In Charms they did a review of what they had learned last year and in Transfiguration the first thing that Professor McGonagall did was have them turn a goblet into a box. Harry noticed that Daphne was one of the last ones to get it. Maybe Transfiguration was her worst class.

After everyone had completed the task, which took about fifteen minutes, she went onto a preterm speech, similar to the one that she had given them last year. Harry had a theory that she has a lecture designed for every year.

They met up with Ginny at dinner. Much to Harry's relief, she looked and said that she felt much better than she did in the morning. She enthusiastically described the speech that she had received in Transfiguration. Ginny also started to describe the Defence against the Dark Arts class that she had had.

According to her, Professor Lockhart could be a good teacher, though Harry noted she did say it with a slightly pink tinge on her cheeks. 'Great,' Harry thought. 'Another Lockhart fan, though she doesn't seem as obsessed as the rest of them.'

"I guess we'll just have to find out on our own, won't we?" Harry said to the three of them. After, that not much was said as they were all really hungry from being used to eat whenever they wanted… at least it was for Ginny and Hermione. Ron was used to being starved while Harry was on a much smaller scale.

Later that night, Harry was getting into bed when Ron suddenly turned to him. The sun had just set ten minutes ago, so Malfoy and everybody else were still out.

"Harry, do you think Hermione likes Professor Lockhart?" Ron asked him looking really worried. Harry almost laughed out loud, but managed not to.

"Of course she does," he said. He waited until just before Ron was about to say something that he continued. "She likes all the teachers. They are basically flawless in her opinion. We may have been able to convince her of many things, such as relaxing around exams and how not to be a Know-It-All, but this one facet of hers still hasn't changed."

Ron turned slightly red. "You know what I mean!"

But Harry was already in bed, pretending to be asleep. Ron sighed, exasperated, and then went to bed himself. Within ten minutes Harry fell asleep for real.

!#$%^*&

The rest of the week passed by quickly for Harry; he continued to wave and say hi to Daphne whenever she passed, and she always responded. He did notice thought that whenever she was around other people she seemed cold and unfriendly.

He had fun teaching Ginny how to get around Hogwarts. Sometimes Harry would think of something specific that he wanted to tell her about or show her, while other times she just lead the way and Harry would come along to spend time with her or just to guide her back if she ever got lost. On occasion, she managed to get them into an area of the castle that Harry didn't know, but the worst thing that happened was they were a bit late for dinner.

Harry's classes had been a bit more difficult than they were last year, but they still were no problem with them. He had decided to only study ahead in his duelling skills, since what was the point of going to school if he knew everything?

He was rudely shaken awake at seven on the first Saturday of term by a tall boy. He focused and found himself looking at Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain.

"Get up if you wish to keep your position." He told Harry, which was Marcus Flint for, 'get your butt out of bed.'

That's why ten minutes later Harry was walking across the common room when he heard his name being called. Looking around, the source of the noise was soon identified in the form of a mane of red hair.

"Harry," she called again, now that she had his attention. "Can I come watch you play Quidditch? Ron always tells me how good you are and stuff, but I want to see you myself!"

"Uh, yeah, Of course you can. Just make it obvious that you're a Slytherin otherwise Flint will have a fit." Ginny nodded then ran upstairs again. Harry only had to wait for a few minutes when she appeared again with her Slytherin scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Let's go," she said, walking past Harry. Harry could practically feel her excitement, and that confused him. They were only going to a Quidditch tryout, and it was for him. All the other members of last year's team were returning, though four of them were in seventh year.

"Why are you so excited?" he finally asked her as she gave another hop. Ginny turned and smiled at him.

"You," she said pointing her finger at him. "Are about to beat up Draco Malfoy in a way that is perfectly legal! I have to see it!"

'I suppose when she puts it that way it makes sense,' Harry thought. After coming up from the dungeons and leaving the castle, Harry and Ginny finally reached the Quidditch pitch where the rest of the team was already waiting. Harry could see that Malfoy had already given them their new brooms, probably hoping to bribe them into hitting harder at Harry.

What Malfoy didn't know was that Flint was a Quidditch fanatic and he would choose who he honestly thought had a better chance to give them the cup. Harry made a mental note to write to his mother about getting him a Nimbus 2001. It wouldn't do to be the only player on the team without one, would it?

"Hurry up Potter!" Flint yelled at him. Harry and Ginny parted ways. As he ran off he saw that she took out a quill and the same black book he had seen her writing in the very first day. Flint saw her.

"Who's that?" He asked suspiciously. Harry pointed at her Slytherin scarf and the Quidditch captain relaxed a bit and continued with his speech

"Okay team, listen up," Flint started, his team looking slightly wary for the speech that was surely about to come out of his mouth. "Today we're here to put together the best Quidditch team we can. The only position up for grabs is the seeker position. Draco Malfoy, whose father kindly donated us these brooms, wishes to challenge the current seeker, Harry Potter. Harry here was able to help us to the championship last year. Now, everybody but the seekers, get in the air!"

The team got on their brooms and kicked off. After making sure they were out of hearing range, Flint turned back to the two second years.

"Listen. Potter, I don't care if you won the cup for us last year. Malfoy, I don't care if your father bought us these new brooms. What I do care about is which one of you is the better seeker. We are going to have a best of three for the position. The first person to catch two snitches gets the spot. They will be released one at a time. Now go!"

Not waiting for any more encouragement, Harry got on his broom and went back up into the air. He had barely flown all summer, and welcomed back the rush of air that he didn't know he missed. He heard Flint blow his whistle, signalling that the snitch was out.

Harry circled the pitch from around the height of the teacher's stands. It was the strategy that Flint had had him use last year and it had worked. He saw Malfoy was about ten feet below him, alternating his gaze from Harry to searching for the flying gold object.

After five minutes of searching and having to dodge a few Bludgers, Harry decided to test Malfoy's skills with a broom. Acting like he saw the snitch, he dove. To his pleasure, Malfoy also dove with him. He raced along, going down as fast as his broom would go, which wasn't very fast. Malfoy was catching up easily. He dodged a Bludger by doing a sloth grip roll. As he was doing it, he saw the snitch for real.

Harry immediately changed course and went the opposite way. Draco Malfoy had been focusing on the snitch that he had thought Harry had seen and has unprepared for the change up direction. Harry's hand closed in on the snitch. He then flew to the ground, where Flint was waiting.

"Good play, Potter," he complimented. "I'm glad to see you still got it. Now, prove to me it wasn't a fluke." Just then Malfoy touched down, looking upset.

"He… he… he cheated!" he spluttered. "I would've gotten the snitch if he hadn't done that dirty feint on me!" While he was complaining, the rest of the team had touched down to see what was taking so long. They were surprised to see Flint laughing.

"Malfoy that is the dumbest thing I've heard in my Quidditch career. It's your fault for falling for it. Now get back up in the air!"

But before everybody could take off again, seven scarlet dressed students appeared onto the field. Flint's smile was wiped off his face and all the Slytherins automatically went into defensive (and Gryffindor provoking) mode.

"Flint, I had the book pitched for today." The tallest one called over angrily. Harry could see his twin clutching his Nimbus 2000 like he was trying to break it. The rest of the Gryffindors just looked annoyed and a bit relieved.

"Ah yes." Flint said. "I was afraid this might come up. I've got a note." He took a piece of parchment out of his robes and handed it over to Wood. Wood eyed it like it might have a curse or a disease before taking it and reading it out loud.

"I, Professor Severus Snape, give permission to Marcus Flint of Slytherin house to practice on the Quidditch pitch in order to pick a new seeker." He looked up. "Who is it?"

Draco Malfoy shoved his way to the front like he had already earned the spot, much to Harry's annoyance.

"You?" Percy said, before starting to laugh. "I'm surprised you can even stay on a broom Death Eater." Malfoy looked ready to punch someone, but instead he settled for another taunt.

"At least I can stay on my broom during a Quidditch match, unlike you!" He had successfully goaded Percy. Percy took out his wand.

"Eat Slugs," he said while aiming for the blond Slytherin. A green spell shot out of his wand and hit the Slytherin. He leaned over, and barfed up a slug. Malfoy tried to stop but they just kept coming up. In between vomits, he retaliated.

"Rictusempra," he chocked out. A red jet of light came out of his wand and Percy started to roll on the ground laughing like there was no tomorrow.

Of course, being the Quidditch fanatic that he is, Wood ignored the fighting that his seeker of participating in and asked another question. "What happened to your old seeker?" Nobody answered.

As Malfoy was retreating back to the Slytherin team, Flint stopped Malfoy from vomiting with a simple Finite then dropped the bomb.

"That's it. Malfoy, I'm sorry but you just weren't good enough out there." He then turned to Harry. "Congratulations Potter. You made the team again and I expect you to get me another cup, you hear me?" Harry muttered consent under his breath.

"What!" Malfoy screamed his voice cracking. "You can't take him! My father donated the brooms so I could play on the team. You can't take a blood traitor like Potter over a Pureblood like me!"

The entire Gryffindor team were waiting eagerly to see what happened next. It was extremely rare that Slytherin fought in public like this.

"No," Flint said firmly, standing up straighter trying to look more intimidating. "I'm team captain and I decide. Potter beat you to the snitch once already, and with a way inferior broom. I can't have a seeker who loses his temper and attacks the other team. It could cost us the cup."

"You haven't heard the end of this," Malfoy threatened Flint, who did not look impressed. Malfoy stormed off, broom in hand. At that moment the Slytherins remembered that the Gryffindors were watching them. Not wanting to show any signs of weakness, they marched off the pitch with their heads held high.

!#$%^&*

Harry stored his broom then went outside. He found Ginny waiting for him. When she saw him come out, her eyes lit up and she began to jump up and down.

"Oh Merlin! Ron was right; you are an amazing seeker Harry! Amazing doesn't even sound descriptive enough. The way you spun so quickly, it was almost as though you and the broom were the same being!" Ginny continued to tell Harry about all the good things he had done, and to Harry's amusement, there were a lot.

"Well, I'm glad to know you approve." He said sarcastically, effectively stopping Ginny, who realized what she had been doing and look away blushing. Just then Harry's stomach rumbled.

"Let's go to the great hall." Ginny nodded in agreement.

They started to climb the steps up to the castle. Once up, the two headed to the great hall. When they reached the great hall Harry started to scan the Slytherin table, looking for Ron and Hermione. Ginny found them first.

"There they are," she pointed them out. They seemed to be talking normally, but Harry wondered just how long that would last. Almost like he had jinxed it, as soon as he was in listening distance he heard Hermione disapprove of something Ron had said. Once Harry had heard the topic, though, he actually agreed with Ron.

"...Professor Lockhart Ron! And his favourite colour is lilac, not pink like you thought. You're supposed to read the book Ronald." Hermione said, sounding like Ron had suggested that she should drop out of Hogwarts.

"Why would I read that rubbish?" Ron asked. Harry privately agreed with him. He had tried to read one of Lockhart's books and had almost thrown it across the room. Any reasonable guy could see that his stories were faked; especially when some of them overlapped. Any girl could too, once they saw past his shiny teeth of course.

The argument was interrupted by Harry and Ginny's arrival. Ron and Hermione instantly went back to being civilized like a switch had been turned. Harry looked at the watch his mother had bought him during the summer and learned that it was only nine in the morning.

"So what are you going to do today, Ginny?" he asked her. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face before answering.

"I think I'm going to do some homework in the library." She answered.

"Do you want us to help?" Harry offered. Ron made a motion that screamed 'no I don't want to help.' Hermione gave him a look. Fortunately for him, his sister somehow didn't see it or decided to ignore it.

"Nah, I'm good. It's just a bit of Charms." With that, Ginny took her last bite, then got up and headed out of the hall. Harry saw her take a turn that would take her back to the dungeons to get her book bag.

As soon as she was out of sight, he motioned for his two friends to come closer and cast the Muffliato spell to make sure no one could over hear him.

"I want to go back to The Chamber today." He told them in a hushed voice. Even though he knew nobody could hear him, he still whispered. It just felt more right that way. "I think I'll go alone though. I want to try and read some of the books in the library. Why don't you two go to the library and look to translation spells to see if one would work with Parseltongue."

"Are you sure you should go down there alone?" Hermione asked him sounding worried. "We still haven't explored where the basilisk lives. It's still sleeping, right?"

"Don't worry," Harry told her comfortingly. "Callidus is down there as well. He woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago to tell me. He said he was going to try and befriend the basilisk. So he's down there if I'm in trouble."

Hermione still looked unsure while Ron looked like he thought it would be more fun to go to the Chamber of Secrets then it would be to go to the library and look for a translation spell.

"How are we going to find a translation spell for Parseltongue?" he asked.

"I don't know," Harry answered. "But you two should be able to figure it out. Even if it's only a spell that the caster needs to know."

Harry got up from the table and went back to the common room to change into his normal clothes. By the time he passed the great hall to head to the second floor Ron and Hermione were already gone. Harry continued on to the second floor, where he opened the entrance to The Chamber and then had the stairs come up.

Once Harry got to the bottom of the stairs, he continued on all the way to the library, not stopping to look at anything else. He thought it would be interesting to see some older spells and maybe even what had happened in those books titled "My life."

Harry decided to read one of the books on Defence first, since that was going to be the subject that he pushed himself in. He carefully looked at the different books. For all he knew some of them could be cursed. He quickly went into the chamber room and picked up a few rocks. He would have to risk it.

Harry picked out a book that looked nice, though Harry wasn't sure why he thought that since they were all untitled and almost all were bound in the same colour-green. But one did catch his eye: it was a black one that really stood out from all that green. He gently threw a rock at it, hoping it wouldn't do and thing to the rock that made it seem unsafe. It didn't.

Realizing that even if his rock hadn't been harmed, the book could still be cursed when opened. Harry walked away from the Defence section and wandered over to the _My Life_ section. He assumed that they were in order and Harry believed that they would only harm a person who was not of the same bloodline, not that he was going to test that theory on Ron and Hermione.

He took the one that was on the left edge and opened it to the first page. This was also written in Parseltongue.

_My name is Salazar Slytherin. As of now, I am a fifteen year old boy, born to the clan of Slytherin. My family tells me that we are special. I think I believe them. We can do magic, make things that shouldn't be able to happen, happen. My family thinks we are even more special then a normal magic-user because we can all talk to snakes._

_We have to keep our talents hidden though. Those who cannot do magic would try to capture us and burn us alive should they catch us doing magic. They claim that magic is against what they call "religion" or something like that._

_My parents say that all those unable to do magic, the non-gifted, should die because they are afraid and jealous of the things we can do that they cannot, and will kill us for that. I don't know what to think. They burn innocent magic-users because they are jealous and confused of our power, but yet some of the things they do aren't that bad._

The first page ended there, and when Harry turned the page he saw that his ancestor had forgotten about his book and stopped writing, because the next entry he had a much different writing style.

_I had forgotten about this book in which I had planned to write down my feelings. But nevertheless, I found it again while searching for a different book. You aren't able to summon things in my room._

_How I wish I had this book to write in when my family was caught using their magic by the non-gifted. They have only been gone for a few weeks or so, but already it feels like forever. The rage I felt as I was forced to stay in the crowd as a spectator as to not reveal myself as well... My father caught sight of me during his final moments, I am positive. His eyes lit up with recognition, and he mouthed the words 'be great, son.' I will father, I promise._

_From that day on, I have decided to be against the non-gifted. I will not risk others losing their loved ones as I have._

Harry flipped to another entry. It appeared that Slytherin had been more careful this time and hadn't lost his diary.

_A few weeks ago, I met three people; Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. They are all really bright, especially that Ravenclaw one. The three of them want to build a school for the magical to be protected from the non-gifted._

_I'm thinking about offering our family castle. I don't live there ever since the day that the non-gifted found my family. I have no use for it anymore so I just travel, trying to learn new magics, mainly Parseltongue. My family had never told me that our Parseltongue ability was something that was special just to our family and not a lot of other magic-users had the talent._

_Yes, I think I'll let them use the family castle, on the condition that I am able to help run the school. I will see what I can do so the ones who don't have a magical background don't have to suffer by their parents hands. If they just aren't accepted into the school, then so be it. It is for their own good._

Harry stopped reading there. Much of this wasn't in history books, not that that really surprised him. He didn't read the rest of the first book, but sort of scanned it for information. He learned that Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had once been a pair. Rowena Ravenclaw was extremely short; around four foot eight according to his ancestor. Slytherin did not succeed in his bid to have no muggleborns in the school. Nothing else really interesting happened.

He put the book back where he had found it then headed back up to the castle. His watch told him it was around seven and his stomach told him that food sounded like a good idea. Heading back to the dorm, he changed his clothes before heading out for dinner in the great hall.

As he was walking through the common room, he noticed Daphne sitting in one of the nice armchairs near the fire.

"Hi Daphne," he said as he walked by. It was all he could really say to the pretty girl before he got tongue tied. She absentmindedly answered back with a 'Hello Harry,' not even taking her eyes off the black book she was studying from.

Not thinking twice of it, Harry went upstairs and met with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He could tell that they were itching to find out what he had done and read in The Chamber today, but couldn't ask because Ginny was there.

"How did your homework go?" Harry asked Ginny. Ginny was sitting next to Hermione and looked sort of neutral about the whole topic.

"It went okay, I guess." She answered him. He waited but she didn't elaborate on her answer. He didn't want to be pushy so he changed the subject.

"So are you going to try out for Quidditch next year?" He asked her, hoping to bring her out of her expressionless mood. It worked. Her eyes lit up like a Hogwarts Christmas tree.

"I seriously hope so. I mean, with almost the whole team graduating this year there is going to be so many spots open. I think I'll go for chaser. I can play chaser or seeker, you know, but since you're seeker I'll definitely go for chaser."

Harry nodded in agreement. He really hoped that Ginny made the team next year.

"Well, I'm tired," he announced to the people around him. "I think I'll go to bed."

"Yeah, I'll come too," Ginny said while Ron unsurprisingly wanted dessert and Hermione did too. That was a bit rarer. So Harry and Ginny left the hall. They entered the dungeons and were about half way to the common room when Ginny stopped abruptly.

"Harry, I forgot something in the library!" she said frantically. "I'm going to go get it."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Harry offered. The idea seemed to terrify Ginny.

"No, I'll be fine on my own." Without another word, she spun her red hair in a full circle and ran as fast as she could out of the dungeons.

Harry continued onto the common room by himself. He hissed "_open"_ to the wall and it complied when he heard something else.

_Rip ... kill ... tear. Soooooooo Hungry._

The voice was sort of raspy and old. Harry couldn't tell where it was coming from and looked around wildly. It almost sounded like Callidus. But he knew what Callidus sounded like and that wasn't it. And he knew it couldn't be the basilisk in The Chamber of Secrets, since he was the only one in Hogwarts that could both control it and know where it was.

Not thinking of anything that he could do, he entered the common room to find it empty. He went upstairs and went to bed.

**And there's chapter eight! I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review!**

**I just sort of assume that all of you know what a sloth grip roll is. But in case you don't, this is the exact definition from Quidditch Through the Ages.**

"**Hanging upside down off the broom, gripping tightly with hands and feet to avoid a Bludger."**


	10. Halloween

**I was a little surprised at the good reception to Salazar's journals. I'm glad you guys liked them. I put more in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

Twin Trios

Chapter Nine

Harry didn't mention the voice he had heard to anybody on Sunday. Nor did he go back to the Chamber. Callidus hadn't come back from the Chamber yet, so Harry didn't know anything that was happening on that front. On Sunday he finished off his homework and hung around the common room with Ron and Hermione. Ginny was off doing who knows what.

He thought about contacting his mother and asking about the voice, but almost immediately scrapped it. She had enough to deal with, what with playing the perfect Gryffindor. Harry knew that even when Percy was at school his parents still went out to lots of functions that just boosted the ego of the idiot he had to call his father.

Monday started too soon for Harry's liking. It signalled his first class with Professor Lockhart. Hermione had been gushing all week about all the things that were in his books, much to Harry's and Ron's annoyance. Just by looking at the man, Harry doubted he had done those things.

Everybody was lined up outside. As usual, they were grouped into their different houses. The Gryffindors were loud and noisy as a whole while the Slytherins were split into little groups. Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing together as normal.

The bell rang and Professor Lockhart's golden hair poked out of the door.

"Everybody in," he instructed.

There was what Harry could only describe as a gaggle of giggling girls, Hermione among them They all wanted to get a spot in the front. There were a few that weren't though. Harry noticed that Daphne was one of the few along with a girl named Tracey Davis that didn't rush in the doorway. The rest of the boys followed grumbling, actually agreeing on something for once.

Harry, Ron and Daphne were some of the lucky ones who got to sit in the back. Harry made sure to sit next to Ron so he wouldn't be reduced to only saying "hi" the entire lesson. The class fell silent as Lockhart called for attention.

"Welcome, to your first Defence against the Dark Arts class," He started. "I am Gilderoy Lockhart, but you all know that don't you?" He flashed a brilliant smile and a wink causing the girls sitting in the front to sigh.

"I am the author of _Magical Me_, _A Year with the Yeti _and so many more best-selling books. And five weeks winner of Witch Weekly's best smile award. But enough about me, I didn't get rid of the werewolf by smiling at it, did I?" He paused for effect as the girls laughed at his joke.

"Now, let's talk about class. You will be having a pop quiz to see how well you read the course books."

He started to hand out the quizzes. When Hermione got hers, she looked at the first question that immediately starting to scribble away. Harry turned to Ron.

"I didn't even open my course books," he whispered quietly as the professor continued to hand out the quizzes.

"Neither have I," Ron whispered back. "My parents wouldn't even buy me any. According to them they were too expensive and I can share with Ray." Ron snorted when he said that. His parents knew that he and Ray don't get along very well.

They got their papers last and the professor walked back to the front of the room.

"You have thirty minutes, starting now," he announced. Harry hadn't even looked at the questions yet, but he could see a bunch of the others, almost all of the girls, scribbling frantically. He looked down at his paper and saw the first question.

_What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?_

_What would be Gilderoy Lockhart's ideal birthday gift?_

_When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday?_

The list went on and on. Harry turned the page and there were even more questions on the back, just as long. Sighing, he read the last one.

50. _Name the award that Gilderoy Lockhart has won five times in a row._

Harry smirked evilly, thinking of the answers that he could put in the quiz. None of them would be right of course.

Thirty minutes later time was up.

"Please pass your answers to the person in front of you, and they will in turn pass them up to the front," Lockhart announced. Harry was starting to worry about what they were going to do for the rest of the class if this was what he had planned for the start.

"The squib can't even collect them magically," Harry heard Draco Malfoy mutter. Harry frowned when he realized that he was right. A lot of their other, more competent teachers just summoned all the papers with a flick of their wands.

The professor quickly flipped through the different answers written there, reading the first few answers from each page out loud and making comments while the class sat there and waited for him to continue. More often than not, a frown would flicker across his face. It seemed to Harry that more than a few of his classmates had had the same idea that he had.

After the class had sat there for a good five minutes, he was done. He stood up dramatically and took out his wand.

"In this class," he started. "You will learn how to conquer a yeti, how to beat a werewolf with one hand tied behind your back, among many other things. But most importantly, you'll have the chance to learn from yours truly. But for today, we'll start out small." He went to the cage that had been silent all class until a moment or two ago. He waited, making sure he had the full attention of the class and then with a flourish, removed the blanket that covered the cage, exposing the creatures within.

What he unveiled could only be described as chaos. The creatures had wings and were a vibrant blue. Their eyes just screamed 'mischief,' as they started yelling and hurling insults in loud tinny voices though it appeared that their teacher didn't notice.

"Cornish Pixies?" Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor said incredulously. "What can _Cornish Pixies_ do to us?"

"You'll be surprised at what they can do Mr. Finnigan," said Lockhart in what he thought was a wise and knowledgeable voice as he wagged his finger annoyingly at Finnigan. "Nasty little blighters they are, and can cause a lot of trouble. Now let's see what you make of them!" Saying that, he opened the cage.

The freed Pixies flew everywhere into the startled class, chattering excitedly as they promptly began to systematically destroy the class more effectively than a rampaging rhinoceros. Malfoy was the first one to the exit, followed by almost the entire Slytherin class. Daphne took one look at the pixies, than tried to hit one of them with a spell that Harry didn't recognize. Hermione, on the other hand, was having a serious brash moment where she actually tried to fight the pixies with the spells that she knew.

"Stupefy," she cried out. Her spell was dodged by the pixie she had been trying to hit and ended up flying out the window. She tried once again and failed. By now even most of the Gryffindors had vanished out the door, abandoning any hope they had once thought they had to capturing the pixies. The only ones that were left were Harry, Ron, Hermione and their respective twins.

Harry looked over to see where their professor should be. He saw a flash of gold hair before the door to his office closed.

"That's it," Harry turned to Ron. "I'm out of here." Ron nodded his agreement. The two boys picked up their worn book bags and left the now decimated classroom. They had reached the end of the hall when a panting Hermione with dishevelled hair caught up to them.

"He was only trying to give us some hands on experience to see what we can do," She wheezed out in between breathes. Harry and Ron exchanged a look and tried very hard to keep a straight face. The trio kept walking.

!#$%^&*

Harry woke up at six on the weekend. He had done almost all his homework on Friday night and was going to go back into the Chamber of Secrets again. He was finally going to wake the sleeping basilisk and have a chat with it.

He got out of bed and changed into some comfortable clothes that his mother had bought for him. He splashed some water on his face to get rid of any remaining sleep in his eyes then left his snoring friend sleeping. He was fairly confident that Hermione wouldn't be up this early, as she had been up late doing school work. Ginny he wasn't as sure of.

But before he went to the chamber, he wanted to do something else. Something that he had been meaning to do for a while now. Harry left the Slytherin common room with a spare set of clothes and headed up to the seventh floor to the come and go room. He thought for what he wanted it to do as he paced there three times, causing a door to appear.

Harry opened the door and walked inside. Inside was a track with a different type of surface at different intervals. Some parts were sand, while some was pavement. Other sections included gravel, grass and cement. Harry assumed it was a five hundred meter track, as that was what he had asked the room to provide.

He did a bit of stretching before setting off on what he hoped would be his morning routine. The sand was very difficult to run on, as was the gravel. The cement, grass and pavement were all easier then the first two. But that was why he wanted to learn how to run on all different terrains; he wouldn't be able to choose where he got to fight on.

Harry managed to run three laps of the track before he got tired out. He did some cool down stretches then changed into the clothes he had brought with him and freshened himself up with a charm. It wasn't quite as good as having a shower, but it would do since he needed to get down into the Chamber before the majority of the school woke up.

He left the Room of Requirement and headed down to the second floor. He passed a couple of fifth year Ravenclaws on the way, and they didn't even give the second year a second glance. Harry didn't pass anyone else as he reached the second floor bathroom.

$ Open, $ He hissed. The entrance opened up as usual. $ Stairs $ he commanded. The stairs slid into place like they were supposed to. Harry walked down the stairs.

He got to the path where it split between the duelling room and the basilisk chamber, and went the way that would lead him to where Salazar Slytherin's basilisk was.

"OW!" Harry yelped in pain and surprise. He had stubbed his toe on something, and when he looked down he found that the something as a good sized rock right in the middle of the passageway.

'Hmmm,' Harry thought. 'It's really lucky that neither of us had stepped on that the first time we came down here.' Then he saw something that nearly stopped his heart.

The Chamber of Secrets was extremely old, just as old as Hogwarts was. Unfortunately for the chamber, it did not have the advantage of being kept clean like the castle above it did. So there was dust all around on the ground. Harry could see the footprints that he and his friends had made last year, though they were covered by a little layer of dust that was noticeably not as thick as the rest. But beside them was another pair of footsteps, one gong the same way he was and the other coming back, that looked like they could've been created in the last few days. Harry hadn't been in this part of the chamber for at least six months.

So who created these other footsteps?

Harry desperately thought of all the people he knew at Hogwarts, and there was only one other Parselmouth that he could think of: Percy. But he knew that his brother didn't really have the intelligence to realize that he was a descendant, let alone find the Chamber of Secrets. So there must be an unknown Parseltongue in the school.

Starting to worry for Callidus, he took out his wand and started to follow the trail of footprints. He entered the basilisk chamber and saw that they led all the way to the statue. He cautiously approached it, ready to speak and command the basilisk at a moment's notice.

If he was lucky, then the basilisk would follow his command over whoever created those footsteps. He finally reached the statue and what he saw almost stopped his heart for the second time since he had entered the chamber.

His familiar lay on the ground, his eyes open and unseeing. His body was unnaturally stiff for someone who looked like they were dead. Maybe Callidus wasn't dead, but was only… Harry couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse that would comfort him. He looked at his faithful companion for the last five years.

Trying to ignore the body that lay on the ground, Harry looked up at the statue. He saw that it was open. Harry then realized that that must be where the basilisk normally lives. His veins filled with fury. One of the only things that could've harmed Callidus would be another basilisk.

$Basilisk of Salazar Slytherin, come out here with your eyes closed. I command you!$ Harry waited for a few moments and got no response. He tried again and the snake still didn't answer. Finally, Harry went to see if the snake was there.

$ Close your eyes, $ He told the basilisk. He then approached the opening of the statue with his wand at the ready. He got there… and saw nothing.

The chamber was massive, easily able to fit a one hundred foot snake, and was really high too. It hurt Harry's neck just to even look at the top. But it was empty. There was a massive void where Harry thought the basilisk should be.

'Well,' thought Harry. 'At least that explains why it wasn't answering my commands.' He was secretly relieved that it turned out that the guardian wasn't there, because that meant that it might still follow his orders.

Realizing that he wasn't going to find the basilisk, he went back out to the body of his beloved familiar. He didn't want to bury him, so he picked him up with a grunt. Callidus was much heavier then he used to be… but then again, Callidus had told him that full grown basilisks are normally so big that they don't stop growing until they were over two hundred years old at the minimum, if ever.

Harry made an effort to keep tears from leaking out, just from thinking of Callidus. He walked all the way to the duelling chamber and put Callidus down out of view in case that other Parselmouth came back into the chamber.

'At least I know that the voice I heard the other night was probably the older basilisk from the chamber,' Harry thought. 'But now I need to figure out who it was that was commanding it. It could be anyone.'

Harry made his way back to the entrance of the chamber, then decided to stop and take another look into his ancestor's life. He found the book that he had been reading and flipped through it once again. Not finding anything new, he turned to the book that was one to the right of the one in his hands.

He opened to the first page and started to read.

_My first effort has failed. A child of only eleven years had a magic outbreak today. I talked to him about coming to our school, which we have named Hogwarts in honour of Godric's late grandfather, and he was interested. Unfortunately his parents, who were both non-gifted, were not. They screamed how he was being possessed by the devil and burned their own child right in front of the entire village. How could someone be so evil?_

_I had another meeting with the other three. We have decided the subjects that should be taught at Hogwarts. There will be Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and two Combat classes, one light and one dark. I learned that Gryffindor is one of those who believe that all dark combat spells are evil._

_Rowena will be teaching Charms. Helga will be the professor for potions while Godric as agreed to take the transfiguration course, along with the light combat. That leaves me with only one class, dark combat spells._

_We also extended invitations to all the people whom are gifted with magic that we know of. I have informed the others that we will need to come up with a way to locate the gifted that have to live with their non-gifted parents. Rowena agreed to the challenge without any hesitation. I will not be surprised if she comes up with a way._

_The school is slated to commence in the fall. The youngest that will be attending will be eleven years of age, while the elders will be a mere seventeen. I am afraid that the different ages will be at different levels, as well those who grew up with non-gifted people. We have been going into the non-gifted towns a lot recently, trying to find and save a gifted person from being burnt alive by non-gifted in the name of their religion._

Harry turned to a different page and read it.

_Classes started today. We only have fifty students or so, ranging from eleven to seventeen. Some of them have a look of intelligence while others are clearly lost during the instruction periods. They should be separated, in my opinion. It is only because they are at different levels, and the lower ones are slowing down the learning of the ones at the higher level._

_My class went well. We discussed why we are learning how to do dark combat. Some of them have very closed minds, not open to the different and more powerful type of magic that I can teach them. Others, on the other hand, seemed interested. I can already sense that this will cause some problems between the classmates._

_The four of us met later while all the students were in bed. We split them into four completely random groups. One group went to the dungeons; another went down a hallway close to my bedroom while the last two groups took residence in two different towers._

_Godric says that the kids in his Transfiguration class were mostly eager to learn. Rowena reported the same thing, as did Helga. Unfortunately, Godric also ran into the same problem that I did. We have compared notes and names. It appears that the ones that were interested in the dark combat magic dislike the light combat. The opposite is what happened to Godric. It's interesting to note that it's those that come from the non-gifted that are close minded._

The entry ended there and Harry turned to a new page.

_Classes have been going on for a month now. I talked to Rowena, and she agrees with my opinion that the people who were more advanced should be moved away from the ones that drag them down so they may complete their schooling quicker._

_Godric, on the other hand thinks that they should all be together to show equality. He says that nobody is superior to another, just because of their intelligence or knowledge. I, on the other hand, realize that we need some people that are more knowledgeable to lead the ones that aren't. Helga agrees with Godric. I foresee this becoming a problem, but hopefully not in the near future._

_We also re-evaluated the sleeping arrangements. Helga came up with the idea of splitting them up in a non-random way. She noticed that the four of us all value slightly different things. Godric values bravery, Rowena values knowledge, Helga values loyalty while I value cunning and ambition. Starting next year, we are going to start to hand pick our students and split them into different rooms. Godric got one tower while Rowena got the other. Helga got the place near my room, something I am not too pleased with, and I ended up with the rooms down in the dungeons._

Harry looked at his watch and realized that it was almost noon. He closed the book and set it back where he had found it.

!#$%^&*

The classes blurred to Harry. His school work was noticeably more difficult than the previous year and he had to go to Quidditch practice four times per week. He had informed Ron and Hermione about the death of his friend, but neither seemed very affected by it. When he thought about it, they didn't really know Callidus so why would they care?

He had describe the state that he had found Callidus in, but neither Ron nor Hermione could come up with what could've happened to him other than being killed, though both agreed that being stiff was rather odd.

What did concern Ron and Hermione was the fact that the older basilisk was missing. Only a Slytherin descendant would be able to control it, and the last one was that Tom Riddle, and looking at his age Harry was positive he did not have access to Hogwarts. He did not tell them about his ancestor's journal entries.

He continued to explore Hogwarts with Ginny, though they had covered most of what he knew and were now going into places where even Harry with his extra year didn't know. It was a good time for Harry and Ginny to get to know each other some more. Harry learned that Ginny had always been really quiet when she was younger, and often pulled pranks set up so Fred and George, her twin brothers, took the blame.

Harry continued to see Ginny writing in her black book. He once asked her about what it was but the expression that she gave him would be enough to make even the bravest (or stupidest) wizard run away.

Halloween arrived and with it the weather started to cool down. He continued to slowly build up his stamina in the room of requirement whenever he could. He didn't think Ron, or Hermione would want to do it with him, so he didn't even offer.

Harry was heading back to the common room to get changed before classes on Halloween. He had just turned a corner, and even with all his Quidditch reflexes, Harry was unable to avoid the collision that happened.

"Ow!" squeaked a feminine voice from beside Harry. Harry rolled over and got up slowly. He looked down and saw who he had knocked down. It was Daphne.

"Oh," he said while trying to hide the blush that always managed to creep to his face whenever he was around the Slytherin girl. "Hi."

"Hi," she said. Her books were scattered on the floor. She bent down and started to pick them up off the ground. Harry started to bend down to help her. With the two of them gathering her books, they were all back into her bag within the minute.

"Thanks," she said.

"Um… you're welcome," Harry managed to stutter out. Why couldn't he just talk to this girl normally like he could with Ginny or Hermione?

'Maybe it's because she's a lot more beautiful then Ginny or Hermione,' said a voice in his head. Harry dismissed it. 'Girls were girls, that's all there was to it… right?'

"So what are you doing out so early this morning?" Daphne asked him while brushing a strand of her black hair out of her eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing," Harry retorted, mildly proud of himself for getting that much out.

"Okay then. Don't tell me. See you around Potter." With that she turned around so fast that her hair whipped around her head and walked calmly away.

!#$%^&*

Harry, Ron and Hermione left the common room to go to the Halloween feast. Ginny had said she needed to stay behind because she didn't feel well. They arrived and took their seats. As usual, the house elves had made their fantastic food as they always do when it was a special occasion.

"Please pass the treacle tart, Harry," Ron asked him. Harry served himself some treacle tart then passed it over to Ron. Hermione was eating something that looked like cake with orange icing on it.

Harry glanced briefly at the other tables. The Hufflepuffs were enjoying themselves, if their contests to see who could eat the most were anything to go by. The Ravenclaws were a bit less hyper, as many of them looked civilized and deep in conversation about who knows what. The Gryffindors on the other hand were having lots of fun. The Weasley twins were showing something to a small group of guys and Percy Weasley looked like he was trying not to let the situation get out of control. But someone was missing.

"Hey guys," Harry said quietly nudging Ron and Hermione. They gave him his attention then looked where he was searching. "Do you see Percy, Ray or Gabriel?"

They squinted in an effort to pick up more details. After a minute of searching, Ron gave up and turned back to Harry.

"No, I couldn't find them either. Where could they be? Ray loves to eat a bunch of junk."

"Strange," Hermione murmured as she also finished her search of the Gryffindor table. "It's weird that none of them showed up. Do you think they got a detention?" She suggested with a bit of hope in her voice.

"Doubt it," Harry said. "We probably would've heard of it. Besides, I doubt that Dumbledore would allow someone to give them detention on a night that I know Percy and Ray love."

"Gabriel likes Halloween too," Hermione added. "She would always dress up like a princess when we were younger." The two boys stared at her. "What?"

"Why in Merlin's name would you dress up on Halloween?" Ron asked her mystified. "It's the darkest time of the year, but with candy…"

"Why wouldn't you? In the muggle world, you dress up as something and then go get candy from the houses."

Harry and Ron looked at her incredulously. Ron more so, because Harry's mother was muggleborn and she might have mentioned something similar to what Hermione was spouting once or twice. Ron, on the other hand, came from a pureblood family with no muggle ties what so ever.

They went back to enjoying their dinner in silence. Then the noise started.

$ Come to me. I will find you, kill, rip, tear $

Harry tensed up. Ron and Hermione noticed, causing them to stop eating and look at him expectantly. Harry's mind was reeling. It was the same voice that he had heard the night in the common. That night he didn't know what it was, but now he was certain: It could only be Slytherin's basilisk.

"The basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets is on the loose," Harry whispered to his friends. Their eyes widened in shock, hoping that their friend was wrong. However, they knew that Harry was not wrong that often.

"What can we do?" Hermione asked. She knew the myth about the chamber of course. The heir of Slytherin would return to the castle to unleash the monster within the chamber to purge the school of those with tainted blood. When she had found out that the chamber was real, she had been very scared. But then she learned that Harry was the heir, and her worries ceased. But now someone that could control the beast other then Harry had shown up, those worries continued.

Ron, on the other hand, was concerned about the fact that and ancient basilisk was on the loose. How could something that big get around without anyone seeing it. Though it was probably good that no one saw it, otherwise that someone would die. He decided that he would ask Harry if he could go to the chamber with him the next time he went.

Harry took another bit of his meal, but wasn't very hungry anymore. He noticed a movement come from the great hall doors and saw his twin and his friends enter the hall, walking at a quick speed. They were half way to the Gryffindor table when a very angry Filch appeared behind them.

"You!" he screamed, pointing at Percy. "You killed my cat you monster! I'll have you expelled for this. You'll be wishing you'd been expelled by the time I'm done with you!"

In the caretaker's hand was his cat. Harry noticed that instead of carrying Mrs. Norris, Filch was holding the cat by its tail. She was stiff and had unseeing eyes… just like Callidus did.

Could it be the basilisk that had harmed Callidus? Even a basilisk isn't immune to its own gaze. Common tools when attempting to kill a basilisk are roosters, since the cry is fatal to it, or if you had a mirror to reflect the gaze upon it.

"Argus," Dumbledore called down from the table. "Calm down."

His words did calm down Filch a tiny bit, but not a lot. The caretaker still looked like he would like to do nothing more than murder the saviour of the wizarding world on the spot. By this time, Percy, Ray and Gabriel had managed to sneak to the protection of the Gryffindor table and sit down. To Harry's disbelief, the three of them started to eat like Filch wasn't yelling at them.

That didn't please Filch though. He continued to yell insults at the trio. Dumbledore got up from his chair and started to head down to the caretaker. But before he could get there to calm Filch completely down, Percy snapped.

"Shut up you squib! I didn't touch your cat. It isn't my fault that it was on the second floor at the wrong time!"

Harry's heart skipped a beat. The second floor… was where the chamber is located. It could be a coincidence, but Harry seriously doubted it. While thinking that, Harry missed the rest of what Percy said.

Harry studied the group like the rest of the hall. Filch, though he had stopped yelling at the Gryffindor, was still making wild hand gestures. Dumbledore had put Mrs. Norris on the table and was bent over, studying her.

"She is not dead," he announced to the hall, stopping the caretaker in mid-rant. "She is petrified. We will be able to restore her, but it will take some time."

"Ah, yes," said an annoying voice from the teacher's table. "I could make one of those potions in my sleep. Why in fact, there was this on time that I was in Canada…" Professor Lockhart went off on one of his great achievements. The Slytherin head of house was clearly not pleased.

"I do believe, Professor Lockhart, that _I _am the potions master at this school," he said in a frosty tone that would've had any of the students scared of what was to come next.

Lockhart paused in the middle of the story to tell the Potions master something, but thought better of it. Harry guessed that nobody can be _that _stupid.

"Professor Sprout has a batch of Mandrakes growing in her greenhouse," Dumbledore continued as though nobody had interrupted him. "But it will take a long time to harvest them, possibly five to six months."

"My cat was attacked Albus! I want to see some sort of punishment given to the offender," he said that while pointing his finger at Percy.

The headmaster stared at Filch for a long time. Everybody's food was long forgotten as they watched the show at the Gryffindor table.

"How did you find Mrs. Norris?" asked the aged wizarding sympathetically. Filch was fooled by the headmaster's sudden change of heart, but Harry wasn't. One moment Dumbledore was protecting Percy and taking the Gryffindor's side, and the next he was playing caring friend.

"She was on the second floor, just outside that out of order bathroom, the one with that annoying ghost in it. And, there was a message written on the wall…" Filch now had the common sense to lean in to whisper to the headmaster. The look on the headmaster's face was surprised, but he covered quickly.

The group that had been meeting at the Gryffindor table disbanded and The Gryffindor trio went back to eating. Professor Lockhart and Professor Dumbledore went back to the head table while Filch left the great hall.

"Attention!" Dumbledore called to the rest of the hall. "Mrs. Norris has been attacked and petrified. She is not dead, and we will be able to revive her in a few months. She was attacked by powerful dark magic, so take caution not to travel alone. Good night."

It was clear that they had been dismissed, so almost the entire Slytherin table got up and walked back the dungeons. They walked in groups, talking about what had just transpired during the feast.

"What happened at the feast Harry?" Hermione asked as quietly as she could.

"I'm not sure," Harry whispered back. "You know how I told you I couldn't find the basilisk that should be in the chamber?" Both of them nodded their heads. "Well, I think I just heard it. I'm pretty sure that it's what attacked Mrs. Norris."

"Did you notice how Filch found her on the second floor?" Ron asked. Harry grimaced then answered.

"Yeah, I did. We need to go there to see where she was attacked. Filch let loose that there was a message, but he only whispered it to Dumbledore. We need to find out what it is."

By this time the trio had reached the common room and couldn't discuss it any more.

"Ron and I will meet you down here tomorrow at eight," Harry half told, half requested Hermione. She nodded her head in consent, and the three friends split and went to bed.

!#$%^&*

Harry got up Sunday morning and went for his jog in the Room of Requirement. He was now able to do his laps at a much quicker pace, so he figured he was going to add a lap soon. He then went back to the common room to find Ginny sitting by the fire.

"Hey," he said, dropping into the seat next to her. She jumped, having not noticed him before.

"Hey," she answered, and then proceeded to wrinkle her nose. Then she greeted him in a way that showed Harry just how much she cared about him. "You need a shower."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I'm going to do that now."

"Why did you smell so bad in the first place?" Ginny asked him suspiciously. Her brown eyes narrowed and leaned forward.

"No reason," Harry said, trying not to reveal where he went most mornings. Ginny gave him a look that clearly stated 'Yeah right.' His resolve not to tell anyone went out the window, for Ginny at least.

"I've been starting to go for morning jogs," Harry confessed. "I noticed last year when I had to run I got out of breath really easily."

Ginny had a look of understanding. She closed the potions book that she had been reading and got up.

"Do you think I could come to?" She requested.

Harry looked at her. He knew she had a lot of fire in her, but could she take the exercise? He had been saying for the past year that he wanted to start running, but he had just started. She might think she wants to, but Harry wasn't sure.

"If you want," Harry agreed. "But if you'll have to get up early in the morning on the weekends, and twice during the week. At six, to be accurate."

Ginny faltered for a moment, but then showed just how stubborn she was.

"No, I want to try it. If I can't do it, then I can't do. I won't lose anything from trying, will I?"

"Fair point," Harry conceded. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a shower as you so kindly reminded me that I stink."

Ginny smiled. "Well you do!" She tried to protest. But Harry was already gone.

Ten minutes later he was clean and had changed clothes again. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 7:30. Deciding to let Ron sleep for another half hour, he took out one of his books to read up on what most people believed about the Chamber of Secrets is.

_The Chamber of Secrets is a myth that follows Salazar Slytherin and the split of the four founders. It is said that Slytherin and Gryffindor had a quarrel that words couldn't settle. Gryffindor came out victorious, and Slytherin had to flee the castle. But before he left, he swore to the other founders that he had created a secret chamber somewhere in the school, and his true heir would come to purge the school of bad influences. Slytherin was well known for his anti-Muggle stance._

_There have been many searches for the Chamber of Secrets, the most recent conducted in 1984. No proof of its existence has been found so far._

_The final part of the myth is that there is a supposed monster. A monster that only Slytherin's heir can command and control. The last ones to have been connected to Slytherin's blood line are the Gaunts, whom have died out recently._

Harry finished reading and read up and some other, more useful things, such as the theory of animal transfiguration that they were supposed to know for Monday. When his clock turned to 8:00, he marked his page and got off his bed. He then walked over to Ron's bed and shook him awake, as usual. Ron groaned as his eyes opened, but he knew that this was Harry's nice way of waking him up.

Ten minutes later, Harry and Ron met Hermione in the common room.

"You're late," she told them as they greeted her.

"It was Ron's fault," Harry explained, though he knew she probably figured that.

"Harry didn't wake me until exactly eight, so he gets part of the blame," Ron defended himself. Then he changed the subject. "So let's go to the second floor."

They left the common room and walked in silence. They reached the second floor and almost as soon as they turned the corner, they froze.

The caretaker was dozing just under the wall that was near the entrance to the chamber. Above him was a message written in what looked like red paint… or blood, thought Harry grimly.

He made a hand signal to Ron and Hermione to creep extremely silently and to not say a peep about the message until they were far away from the paranoid squib. The trio crept forward until all three of them could read the message that was written there.

_The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware._

After reading the message, they turned around and practically ran out of the hall, not wanting to be caught by the short tempered caretaker. As soon as they turned the corner, Ron burst out.

"Well, that's a nice message, isn't it?"

Hermione snorted then gave her answer. "The enemies are most likely the Muggleborns, since that's what our house founder was famous for hating, right Harry?" She had thought that Harry would confirm the belief, and he did.

"Yes," Harry said slowly, debating on how much to tell them. "That is the common belief. But due to some… more reliable sources, I think I somewhat know what the truth was."

Ron and Hermione looked at him, not sure if they should believe him or not.

"How would you know?" asked Hermione in an accusing tone. "Every book I've read has said that Salazar Slytherin hated all things Muggle."

"I've been doing some reading in the chamber," Harry admitted quietly. "I don't want to say the reason, but let's say that it's true that Slytherin didn't like Muggles, but he had a very good reason."

Ron and Hermione were quiet, not really sure what to make of the new information Harry had given them, even though there wasn't much he had shared. Nobody had ever asked the question of why the founder hated the Muggles and Muggleborns so much.

Just then, Ron's stomach rumbled, and the trio headed off to breakfast, unaware of the girl that had been listening in the shadows.!#$%^&*

A girl with red eyes entered the Chamber. She walked the path straight to the where the basilisk should be if someone else hadn't invaded her Chamber. Once there, however, she turned immediately to the left as soon as she entered the room.

Once she got to what seemed like a blank wall, she made some sort of hissing noise that most people would not understand. The innocent looking wall opened him, revealing an exit to what appeared to be a ton of trees.

The girl hissed once again, and then waited. After two minutes of waiting, a snake appeared out of the trees. It was gigantic, around a hundred feet long and four feet thick. It had yellow eyes that could kill at will, though they were currently covered by its clear eyelids.

$ Has anyone been here since I last came here? $ The girl asked the snake.

$ No, master. I have sensed a child from up above in the library, but ever since that little boy who picked up that young basilisk arrived, no one has been in my chamber. $

The girl nodded, $ Excellent. You are free to go hunting once again. Remember to stay out of sight and don't let anyone see you until I call you again.$ The basilisk made a gesture that made it clear that it understood the orders.

The girl then turned around and went back into the castle. 'The plan is going on without a problem,' thought Tom Marvolo Riddle.

**And there is chapter nine of Twin Trios. I hope you guys liked it, and don't forget to review. I have some tricks up my sleeve for the chamber scene… any guesses?**


	11. The Dueling Club

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**A major thank you to my Beta, Teufel1987. I was having some trouble coming up with ideas and he gave me a base that I was able to tweak to my liking.**

Twin Trios

Chapter Ten

The first Quidditch of the game had crept up on Harry. He had written to his mother, and she had managed to go behind his father's back and buy him a Nimbus 2001. She told him to consider it an early Christmas present.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season," boomed the voice of the Gryffindor Lee Jordan. "It is a Slytherin versus Gryffindor matchup! Go, go Gryffindor!"

The majority of the school cheered at the statement while the other quarter plus some of the few people that didn't believe Slytherin was a synonym for evil booed. Jordan started to call out the names as they entered the pitch.

"From the Slytherin team, Captain Marcus Flint, Montague, Pucey, Derrick, Bole, Bletchley and Harry Potter!"

"Jordan!" The Gryffindor head of house had taken the megaphone from the student and given one of her frequent reminders to stay fair. They never worked. The Gryffindors choose that moment to come out.

"And here comes the Gryffindor team! Captain Oliver Wood, Spinnet, Bell, Johnson, Weasley, Weasley and Percy Potter!" They were met by cheers all around.

"Captains," barked the referee, Madame Hooch. "I want to see a nice clean game from all of you. Now shake hands."

Flint and Wood glared at each other, and shook hands like they were trying to crush the others' off, or severely injure them to impair the Quidditch playing. There was also the fact that there was unsettled business because of the fight over the pitch a month ago.

They broke apart and got back in to position. Shortly, the whistle blew starting the game.

Harry kicked off the ground, loving the feeling of wind that rushed by his ears every time he left the ground. He soared high into the air so he could observe the whole pitch. In the background he heard the Gryffindor commenting.

"Gryffindor in possession! Bell passes it to Johnson. Go Angelina! She gives it to Spinnet who takes it up the field. Good player that one. Spinnet passes it to Bell who shoots, and scores!"

The red and gold section burst into a loud cheer with slightly quieter cheers from the Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw. The Slytherin's attempted to show their feeling, but were easily drowned out.

"Slytherin now has the Quaffle. Flint flies around Johnson-Come on Angelina!"

"Jordan," The transfiguration professor barked into the microphone.

"Sorry professor," He apologized, not sounding sorry at all. Meanwhile, Flint had passed it off to Pucey who then passed it to Montague. Montague shot and managed to slip it by Wood, who Harry had to admit was a pretty good keeper.

At this point Harry started to tune out the commentating and focus on finding the snitch. He spotted Percy circling around the pitch doing a bunch or tricks. 'Show off,' Harry thought. He flew towards his twin and was surprised at what he saw.

A Bludger was acting like his brother was the centre of the universe. Percy had managed to dodge all the attacks it had launched, but even when it missed it came circling back to have another go. So maybe he wasn't showing off.

"Having fun there?" Harry asked sarcastically. His brother looked up to see who was talking to him and in his moment of hesitation, the Bludger struck once again. It hit him right in the arm, and even from the distance Harry could hear the crack that signalled that it was broken.

Percy's face then turned into one of concentration, and he began to attempt to fly with a broken arm. Harry whirled around to find out why and saw with dread that Percy was chasing after the snitch. He started to race after it too.

He managed to pull even with Percy when the Bludger struck once again. It hit Percy in the side, which caused Percy to be pushed to his left-where Harry was. Harry was knocked off balance, though he quickly regained it. Percy's face told him that his twin was in pain, but at the moment they were both chasing after the snitch so neither cared.

The snitch dove and the two Seekers followed. The Bludger appeared to have disappeared, much to Harry's pleasure. It would be nice to beat his brother fairly instead of in that cheap way he did last year.

And then the Bludger re-appeared. It went in front of them, and then circled back, splitting them in the centre. Harry rolled to his left in order to dodge it, and he could sense Percy doing the same to his right. The snitch then decided it would be a nice time to change directions. To Harry's dismay, the little golden ball went to the right, a lot closer to Percy.

Harry spun his broom as fast as he could, but even his top speed wasn't enough to catch up with Percy. His brother's hand closed around the snitch.

"Gryffindor wins!" Lee Jordan announced to the crowd with no small amount of glee, "With a score of 190-50."

But the Bludger, despite tampering with the game, still wasn't done. As Percy raised his hand awkwardly to show the crowd the snitch while trying to land, it came back and knocked him off his broom.

Harry acted on reflex. He was able to not save his brother last year because he had had some time to think about it. But when someone was falling, friend or foe, you didn't really have time to think about it.

He caught Percy twenty feet off the ground, then barely managed to pull out of the dive he had done. He landed and saw that his father and some of the staff were heading towards them.

He walked out to greet them and to tell them what had happened so they could get a rematch, but they all just ran right by him, not even sparing him a second glance. He turned and saw them huddling around Percy. They had their wands out and were starting to levitate the Gryffindor, probably to take him to the hospital wing. He huffed in annoyance then headed back to the changing room.

He was not prepared for what met him.

The team was still fully dressed. Five of them were sitting in a line on the bench while Flint was standing up with his arms crossed. It was then that it hit Harry. Slytherins liked to win. They didn't take well to losing. But this was the first time that he had ever lost a game for them. Granted, since it was against Gryffindor it was probably the worst game he could lose. But since it was first time, would they take it slightly easier on him?

"Potter," Flint greeted him in a curt tone. When Harry said nothing, he proceeded. "What happened out there? You just lost us the game, and probably the cup as well! Gryffindor is going to have to lose another game to even give us a shot. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I apologize," Harry started. "But that game was tampered with! There was this Bludger that followed the Gryffindor Seeker around the entire game!" Nobody on the team was impressed with his excuse.

"You think that's a reason?" Flint asked. "You think that the fact that a Bludger had been tampered with to follow the other Seeker is an excuse for why you, the one without the Bludger, lost?"

"Yes!" Harry insisted. "When we were chasing the snitch-"

"We don't want to hear it," Flint cut him off. "You had a perfect year last year, and as much as I would like it, it isn't possible for you to have one every single year." Harry sighed in relief. Maybe he would be getting off easier.

"That said," Flint asked. "I can't have these results often. If you can win both of the remaining games, and get us into second place minimum, then you can have your spot again next year. But if you don't…" He trailed off, letting his words sink in.

Harry didn't really have a huge love for Quidditch, even though he did enjoy playing it. He just wasn't as fanatical like some of the other people he knew. But he wanted to keep his spot on the Quidditch team; even it is just to rub it in Percy's face if he's having a bad day.

"Now get out of my sight!" barked Flint, clearly dismissing Harry. Harry ran out of the change room as fast as his legs would carry him.

!#$%^&*

That week, Harry learned that Slytherin house was a lot like the rest of the school. They were like a bunch of sheep. Last year when he beat Gryffindor, they had loved him and treated him and his friends great. But now that he had lost, they hated him. They never said that was why he was being treated so coldly, and used the excuse of his heritage again. In turn, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were being treated even more badly than normal.

Harry continued to go to Quidditch, though it was weird to be given the cold shoulder by the captain. It would've been more comforting if he had been yelled at 24/7. Flint still yelled at the rest of the team though.

To make things worse, there was another attack the night after the Quidditch match. An annoying first-year named Colin Creevey was found outside the Hospital Wing, where Percy had ended up staying the night just in case his bones hurt. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots. At least, that's the story that Harry heard.

Another good thing: Harry had gone back to the Chamber of Secrets and had looked at Callidus again. He was in a very similar state that Mrs. Norris had been in that night, so Harry had hope. His friend was probably just petrified like the other two victims, not dead like he had originally thought. Harry knew that Professors Snape and Sprout were working on a potion to revive the others, so he could probably sneak in and get some when it was done.

Harry, now joined by Ginny, continued to run on the schedule he had laid out. Her enthusiasm soon dampened, she was stubborn and came every morning to the running sessions. It was something that Harry both liked and disliked about her.

Harry walked to his Defence Against the Dark Arts class with butterflies in his stomach and a plan in his head. Lockhart, who Harry had decided wasn't worthy of the title of professor, barely taught them anything at all. He only used his twin as an acting dummy to show scenes from his books. Harry did have to admit that Percy looked funny with a snout.

But today he would actually accomplish something in this class. There are only two girls in the class that don't adore Lockhart like the rest do. Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't among them, but to Harry's pleasure Daphne was. So he was going to talk to her that class.

"Sorry, what was that?" Ron had been nudging him for the past minute. Ron rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Honestly, Harry. I asked you a question almost three minutes ago." They were all at the entrance to the classroom. Hermione broke off from them to join the usual rush of girls all trying to get a good view of their teacher.

"What was it?" Harry asked Ron.

"I wanted to know," he looked around then dropped his voice so even Harry could barely hear him. "I wanted to know if you had any more theories about the heir." He looked at Harry expectantly.

"No, I'm sorry but I don't," Harry told him tiredly. His friends asked him if he had found something new at least once every day. "I've been looking in the library for records of a guy named Tom Riddle, but I've found very little. Only that he went to Hogwarts from 1938-45."

Ron looked disappointed, but accepted it. Just then Lockhart popped his head out of the door with a smile that made it seem like he was trying to blind them and told them all to come in.

They all sat down (Harry made sure to get a seat near Daphne) and waited for a few minutes as their professor looked at himself in the mirror, every now and then shifting his hair. Eventually, the bell rang, signalling the start of class.

"Good morning class," Lockhart said brightly. He received an enthusiastic 'good morning,' from about half the class, and a mumble of words from the others. Apparently that satisfied him, because he continued on.

"Today, we are going to be studying what happened to the yeti I dealt with. Let's see, yes, Mr. Potter, I'm glad to see that you show such an active participation in my class!"

Percy got up reluctantly and dragged his feet to the front of the class. Lockhart got out his wand and performed some mediocre transfiguration, giving Percy a bit of white fur that only covered spots of his body. Lockhart launched out into his daily speech that was almost the exact same thing that was in his books. All the guys started to whisper quietly to each other. During this time Harry slid over to Daphne and put his plan into motion.

"Hi Daphne," Harry greeted her. She turned her head to face Harry, causing her hair to whip around in a nice way.

"Oh. Hello Harry. How are you" She answered politely.

"I… I'm fine," he got out, "How about you?"

"Oh, you know how it is," she said to him. Harry really didn't know 'how it is,' but he found himself nodding anyway. He glanced back up at the front of the room to see Lockhart had Percy pinned up against the wall with his hands-no magic at all. The girls were content just to sit there while most of the guys didn't even notice.

"Pretty stupid, that," Harry said to Daphne, while making a gesture towards all the star struck girls, focusing on a point just off her face so he wouldn't be reduced to a stuttering mess.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Does anyone actually think that he would be able to do all those things? I mean, certain events overlap!" Harry nodded in agreement. The two Slytherins then fell into an awkward silence. It was at that moment that Harry remembered his original reason for coming over to speak to her.

"Wannahangoutsometime?" he asked her really quickly; too quickly, apparently, because she looked at him funny, and he had to repeat himself a lot slower.

"Would you like to hang out sometime?" Daphne's face was unreadable, so Harry had no clue about what she thought about the suggestion.

"I mean, none of our two Defence teachers have been that useful in actually teaching. So … I thought… we could research some spells and practice them in an empty classroom."

He waited with baited breath, thinking that Daphne was going to laugh or maybe look at him like he was an idiot for asking her that question so shakily. But to his surprise, a cold calculating look in her eye appeared then disappeared so fast that Harry thought he just imagined it. She then smiled and responded.

"Sure, that'd be lovely. It will be a nice change from all the incompetent morons that we always have class with," she said with a sneer.

"Are you taking sneering lessons from our head of house?" Harry joked. Daphne's musical laugh rang through the class, getting the attention of everybody but the professor. Anyone competent would've told them off for talking in class. But then again, if it had been anyone competent, they would've been paying attention.

After telling Daphne that he would meet her in the library after lunch on Saturday, the rest of the class passed reasonably quickly for Harry, all of the butterflies in his stomach were now gone and were replaced by an uncontainable excitement to spend time with Daphne. He practically skipped out of the class, so fast that his two other friends needed to jog to catch up with him.

"What's gotten you so excited?" Hermione asked him. He looked at her, and then seemed to remember that he was in public. Immediately he calmed down to a neutral expression, though he still had a bit of trouble containing his excitement.

"Nothing," he said. They both didn't believe him, but he was afraid that if he told them that they would demand to come too, which would ruin his time with just him and Daphne.

"Whatever," Hermione said while rolling her eyes. "Don't tell us." She then lowered her voice and after checking to make sure no one was around.

"So when are you going back to the Chamber?" she asked. Instantly, Harry's good mood was basically wiped out at the reminder of the problem that loomed over the school. The chamber would just remind him of what happened with Callidus, which just made him want to cry. Not that he did anymore. Crying wasn't very productive. Sure, it felt good to do every once in a while, like he had almost done in the chamber but it was dumb to cry multiple times for the same reason.

"I haven't decided yet," Harry replied evenly. "The older basilisk isn't there, so there's no point in going to try and stop it. Plus-" He was about to point out another excuse of why he didn't want to go back down into the chamber when Hermione cut him off.

"But what about the library?" she asked her eyes shining. Even Ron, who had been silent in the conversation up to this point perked up. "I finally found a spell that allows someone to translate a whole book into another language, as long as they know both. Of course, the grammar is going to be terrible, but if we can fix that up, imagine the knowledge we could get from the personal library of a founder!"

"Really?" Harry asked, mildly impressed that they had managed to find one. He didn't even know one and he's lived in the Potter family library for half his life. "Show me."

They had reached the great hall now and took their seats at the Slytherin table. Hermione reached into her book bag and after a moment of searching she found a spare piece of parchment and a… pencil?

Harry was surprised that Hermione had brought one of her muggle writing utensils to Hogwarts. Normally the purebloods frown upon the use of non-magical things so much that nobody brought Muggle items to school. He only knew what pencils were because he had seen his mother use them before and he had seen them in a few expensive shops. He doubted that Ron had ever been in one.

"What's that thing?" Ron asked stupidly. He had taken a break from the conversion to eat some food and when he started to listen again, he saw Hermione pulled some parchment and something that was very similar to a stick.

"This is a pencil, Ron," Hermione told him in an annoyed tone. "It's easier to write with than a quill, and doesn't require ink." Harry noticed how she had conveniently forgotten to mention that a pencil did need to be sharpened. Ron still looked fascinated.

Hermione wrote down a short sentence on the parchment she had taken out then showed it to Harry and Ron. It read _Je __peux parler_.

"I know a bit of French," Hermione explained. "Since I know what this means, I'm able to translate to English for you guys to read." She carefully ripped the piece of parchment in two, with the French sentence on one half and a blank sheet on the other. "The more text you try to translate, the more power it takes, so that's why I only wrote down a short sentence."

She then pointed her wand at the paper and cast the spell.

"Reddo hoc lacuna" she spoke quietly. A glow erupted from the paper, and Hermione then pointed at the empty piece of parchment. Words slowly started to form, until it said _I can speak_.

"So will you do it?" She asked eagerly. Harry thought for a moment, and then sighed.

"Okay, fine." He said. "I'll do it when I go down there this weekend." At this, Ron frowned.

"Harry, why don't you ever take us anymore?" He asked. Harry looked up in surprise. He hadn't thought his friends had noticed that he preferred to go alone now. They were more observant then he gave them credit for. He didn't really know the reason, only that he liked going there alone. So instead he made up something on the spot.

"It's not safe for you guys down there right now," he invented wildly, "With the other heir on the loose and a missing one thousand year old basilisk and all. If I just go down there alone, I have a better chance of being able to control it because I won't have to worry about your safety."

Ron and Hermione seemed to accept that, but Harry knew that with that excuse he wouldn't get out of taking them down when that was no longer a problem.

!#$^%&*

To Harry it seemed like Saturday could not come fast enough. The days seemed to trickle by as the weekend approached. Finally it was there. Harry did a bit of homework on the Friday night, explaining to Professor Snape five uses for the swelling solution, deciding he could hold off his essay for charms until Saturday afternoon or Sunday when he wasn't in the chamber.

Harry went to bed and after an hour of tossing in anticipation, he let sleep take him. He woke the next morning at his normal time and left the Slytherin common room to go to the Room of Requirement. He and Ginny had stopped running together, though he wasn't quite sure why. They normally just met and started to run without talking at all. He frowned absentmindedly, wondering what he had done to upset her. At that moment he reached the seventh floor and entered the room.

Just as he entered, he saw Ginny slipping something back into her bag. 'Probably that diary that she brings with her everywhere,' Harry thought.

"Hi," he said to her. She mumbled a hello while bending over to tie her flaming red hair in the ponytail that she normally ran with. When she didn't say anything else, he started to run his normal routine. About halfway around his first lap noticed that she had also started, her hair trailing out behind her in a fascinating way.

When Harry was done for the day, he waited for her to finish too, which is not something he normally did. She stopped, panting, sweaty and slightly red in the face.

Harry waited for her to take a drink from one of the water bottles that they had ordered house elves to bring for us before starting on what he wanted to say.

"So how's it going?" Harry asked her. She looked up, startled and confused. They hadn't talked in a reasonable amount of time, so she thought that Harry had just lost interest in their friendship.

"Fine…" Ginny responded slowly as though she was trying to figure out why he had asked her that question. "Why do you care?"

Harry was taken back. He didn't think that she would react in a hostile manner.

"Because you're my friend," he told her. "And I care about what you're doing."

Harry then changed his voice into something a little more teasing, hoping that it would allow her to open up to him like she used to.

"You know, just in case there are any guys that are trying to approach you…" he trailed off. After a moment, Ginny's eyes widened, finally realizing what he said.

"Harry!" she screamed playfully. "I already have six older brothers to do that." Her face darkened and she added under her breath "If any of them other then Ron still care about me." Harry was pretty sure that he was not meant to have heard that.

The conversation started to flow more smoothly after that. Harry learned that Ginny's first flying lesson was much less intense then Harry's, as no one had fallen off their broom and in exchange he told Ginny some of the things they were doing in class. He didn't know why he didn't tell her about the Chamber. When Harry thought about it a bit more about it, he had been very rash to include Ron and Hermione with knowledge about the Chamber. He had barely known them for two months. Luckily, they turned out to be trustworthy, but he doesn't want to tell Ginny until he was sure that she could be trusted.

They caught up with each other until Harry realized what time it was. The clock read around eight, so he figured he should go and change before waking Ron up to spend some time with his other two friends before lunch. Since he would be occupied after lunch… realizing how close that was, Harry's stomach did a little back flip.

!#$%^&*

"Hey." "Hello."

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two Slytherins greeted each other. It was a bit after lunch and Harry had made sure not to eat too much for fear of being sick. Finally Daphne broke the silence.

"So, what do you want to research first?" she asked him. Harry already knew some duelling spells above their level, such as the stunning spell and impedimenta jinx, but he didn't want Daphne to know that. So the first thing was to…

"Why don't we look up some spells that we want to learn?" He suggested. "Then make a list and move to an unused classroom to practice." Daphne looked at him and nodded, making him start to feel a little warm. They headed over to the shelves and took out some books like _Magical Defence Made Easy _and _A Guide to Beginner's Duelling Spells_. He found the stunning spell.

"How about this one?" he showed Daphne after taking a deep breath. "It knocks out a person until they're revived by someone else." She looked it over before nodding her head and taking her quill and writing the incantation, effect and the wand movement of the spell on the piece of parchment that she had gotten out for their list. They then went back to work in silence.

Every so often, one of them would find a spell that looked like it would be useful (or fun) to know. After around an hour they had a list of spells.

"Do you want to finish for today or would you like to practise some of the spells that we've written down?" Daphne asked turning to Harry. Harry answered right away.

"Let's try and practise some spells," he said without even thinking about it, while trying not to sound too eager or too happy about spending more time with her. She picked up her bag without another word and looked at Harry. He quickly left with her.

They walked in an awkward silence for a few moments before he tried to create some conversation.

"So do you have any siblings?" he asked her. Daphne was silent for a few moments before she answered.

"Yes, I do. Her name's Astoria. She'll be coming to Hogwarts next year. I guess it would be pointless to ask you the same question wouldn't it?" She added while smiling. Harry looked down, trying to hide the blush that had formed.

"Yep," Harry said. "I do have one sibling… I think you might have heard of him. Percy Potter?" Daphne recognized what he was trying to do and decided to play along.

"Percy Potter… the name does ring a bell… Isn't he the Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" she said. They fell back into silence after that, but this time it felt more comfortable then awkward.

After finding an empty classroom on the second floor, they looked at their list of spells and settled on the stunning spell to learn first. Daphne agreed with Harry that it would be a good foundation of how to learn the other spells.

"So how should we try and practise them?" Daphne asked Harry. "It's not like we know any spells that would protect the wall if we actually do succeed." Harry thought for a moment then spoke.

"How about we practice casting the spell at each other?" He suggested. Daphne thought about it for a moment then nodded her consent. Daphne went to one side of the room while Harry went to the opposite.

"You try casting it first," Harry called. Daphne didn't even bother answering, but instead she flicked the wand like you were supposed to and said "stupefy". Harry braced himself for the unlikely result that she would be able to do it on her first try, but it turned out to be pointless. Her wand jerked a little, but no light shot out of it towards Harry.

She tried it again and again. Harry could tell that Daphne was concentrating very hard on attempting to do the spell, so he didn't interrupt her to have his turn. He knew he could already do this spell, and still hadn't figured out a way that he could make it look like he tried to cast it and failed.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a flash of red light, and then saw no more.

!#$%^&*

When Harry came to, he noticed that the room was empty and that he was slightly bruised. Cursing himself for letting his guard down by expecting Daphne not to be able to actually cast the spell, he made sure he still had his wand and left the classroom. He found the girl he was looking for in the Slytherin common room. Luckily, neither Ron nor Hermione were also in the room.

He sat down beside her and glared at her angrily. "What was that for?"

She absentmindedly marked her page in a book on spell casting and looked at Harry with innocent eyes.

"What was what for?" She asked, pretending to be confused by what Harry had asked her. Harry sighed, trying not to get angry at the girl he had a crush on… at least, he thought it was a crush.

"You just stunned me and left me there! I could've been caught by Filch! Do you know how much explaining I would've had to do about why I was unconscious? Or I could've shamelessly pranked by peeves! How could you?" Harry said intently, doing his best not to raise his voice and partially succeeding.

"Well," Daphne answered. "I don't know how to revive people. Do you?" She waited before continuing, waiting for Harry to answer. He looked at the ground and muttered "No."

"Exactly, so what would be the point of both of us sticking around and getting caught? As you pointed out, you could've been caught and had to explain. What would they have done if I had been there with you?" Harry found that he couldn't stay angry at her after that. But then she added. "You should've tried to dodge it anyways."

He glared at her again, but this time it was a more playful glare. "I was thinking about other things," Was his excuse.

"Too bad for you then," Daphne taunted gleefully.

!#$%^&

Harry and Daphne continued to meet at irregular times so Ron and Hermione didn't notice. After that mishap on the first day, the next spell they had researched was how to revive a person after knocking them unconscious. That way when they had to practice Stupefy again, the same thing did not happen.

After meeting for two weeks or so, Harry woke up and came down to the common room to find a crowd around the notice board. He noticed that Ginny was among them, so he went over and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hello Harry," she said to him. "I guess you want to know what this is about." She gestured to the crowd while saying this.

"That'd be great," Harry said, a bit annoyed that she had been able to tell exactly what he wanted.

"Apparently there's a duelling club starting up this term. The first meeting is in a few days."

"Who's teaching it?" Harry asked her. He was worried when he saw Ginny smile, and then grimace at the question.

"Professor Lockhart," she told him. It was there that Harry decided that he probably wouldn't like to go. He and Daphne almost knew enough spells to have mock duels, so there wouldn't really be anything to gain that he could see. Remembering Ginny's reaction when she knew the answer, he asked her another question.

"And how do you feel about him?" He asked her. Since he had never had a class with Ginny (for obvious reasons) he didn't know what she thought of Lockhart. Harry wondered what Lockhart did for the other classes since he didn't have Percy to act out parts from his books. Maybe he made other people act out?

"Well," Ginny started. "I grew up with my mum talking about him and how amazing he is. I must admit… he isn't bad looking." She said that was a blush on her face. "But now that I've met him, he doesn't seem anything like the person that's in his books."

Harry nodded in understanding. In his mind, he pointed out that it was the same mother that had mistreated Ron all those years, but he didn't dare say it out loud. At that moment he saw Daphne leaving the common room alone.

"Bye Ginny," he called as he started to walk quickly away. For some reason Ginny looked a bit annoyed, but Harry pushed that out of his mind instantly as he had caught up with Daphne.

"So did you hear about the duelling club?" he asked her. She glanced at him and nodded.

"Yes I have. I think I'll go, how about you?" Was what she said. Harry was surprised. He didn't think that she would want to go.

"I don't see a point in going. I mean, we almost know enough spells to have mock duels, so why go and see everyone else?" He argued. Daphne considered for a moment before speaking.

"You have a point. But I want to go for two other reasons. Number one, it's good to know what the other people can do, just in case that information is needed. And two, we can duel any time, but we won't be able to do the same with others as often. And it will be useful to duel with more other people as it will give us more experience in duelling, making us more effective duellists." Harry thought about it for a moment. Why did she have to have so many good reasons?

"Fine, I'll go." He said, pretending to sulk a little before going to find Ron and Hermione for the day.

The days passed and the time for the duelling club arrived. Harry arrived with Ron and Hermione. He could see Daphne's dark hair in the crowd, along with Ginny's red hair. Unfortunately, he could also see his brother and Draco Malfoy in the crowd as well. The four house tables had been replaced by a platform in the middle of the room.

"Everybody gather round!" Lockhart called out over the crowd. It was then that Harry noticed that he had someone else there with him… Professor Snape. Nobody heard Lockhart until Snape raised his wand, pointing it in the air and shot off a loud bang. Everyone become quiet instantly.

"Thank you professor Snape," Lockhart said while trying to blind the Slytherin head of house with his teeth. "Of course, I could've done that myself but I was just trying to make sure you were paying attention." Snape gave Lockhart a glare that would've had any student running, but the Defence professor didn't seem to notice.

Harry ignored the rest of what Lockhart was saying to charm the crowd; though Hermione seemed to be clinging on to every word… maybe he _should _invite them to duel a bit with Daphne. He had come here to duel, not to be bored to death. Finally he noticed that Snape was going through the crowd, pointing at two different people that probably didn't get along and pairing them off to duel. Eventually he got to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Potter, you go with…" He scanned the crowd before finding a face that satisfied him. "You shall pair off with Malfoy." He pushed Harry towards the aristocrat, not giving him time to hear who Ron and Hermione got paired with. He looked back to see that Hermione was paired off with Millicent Bulstrode, another girl in his year and in Slytherin who looked like she could fight better without a wand then with one, while Ron had been placed with one of the Malfoy goons, Crabbe?

"Now," Lockhart started. "One my whistle, _disarm _only ... Three, two, one, begin!" Malfoy had started before the whistle, which Harry hadn't really been expecting. Fortunately, Harry had decent reflexes from Quidditch and easily dodged the spell purple spell Malfoy had sent his way that Harry did not recognise. Obviously Malfoy still held a grudge against Harry for defending his Seeking position, judging by the way that spell made the hairs on Harry's arm stand."Expelliarmus," Harry said calmly while aiming his wand towards his opponent. A jet of scarlet light came out of his wand and headed towards Malfoy, but the other Slytherin moved out of the way. Before anything else could happen, Snape let out a bang with his wand again. Harry looked around the room.

He saw that his brother had been paired up with Neville Longbottom. The Boy-Who-Lived had a smirk on his face, and Neville lay on the ground. Harry recalled Hermione's twin being able to stun, and figured she had probably taught his brother. Millicent had ugly, painful looking spots all over her face, though it looked Hermione didn't do anything. Ron had Crabbe's wand. Daphne was over her unconscious opponent with their wand in her hand and a smirk on her face.

The rest of the room was even more chaotic. Professor Snape stepped up to the podium.

"Obviously none of you… students can even cast jinxes and curses properly. Let's find a pair who can…" The Slytherin head of house looked around the room, before to Harry's horror, landed on Malfoy and himself.

Harry had noticed that Snape had started to be a little colder to him, and this would be a great opportunity to embarrass one of the Potter children. If Harry lost, the Slytherins would never hear the end of Malfoy's gloating while if he won, it would make Harry look more powerful then Percy.

"Potter, Malfoy. Come up here now!" He barked in a tone that invited no argument, not that either of the two boys was stupid enough to do that. They scrambled up to the platform and stood across from each other at opposite ends. Lockhart, sensing that he was starting to lose control on the situation, spoke up.

"Alright boys," he cried out joyfully. "First, we bow." The two Slytherins bent their backs as little as possible. Harry didn't trust Malfoy enough to take his eyes of him, and apparently the blonde felt the same way.

"On three, start. One. Two. Three!"

Malfoy actually waited until three to strike this time. Harry had been prepared to dodge at two, but he was still prepared when the first spell came.

"Stupefy," called out Malfoy. The red light shot out of his wand and towards Harry, who managed to dodge it. In his mind, Harry made a mental note to tell Daphne that they should research a bit of shielding too.

Harry retaliated with a disarming charm, which Malfoy managed to avoid. The duel continued. It appeared that neither boy knew how to use a shielding charm, but they both knew some offensive spells. Malfoy, because most purebloods were tutored before Hogwarts and Harry because of the things he did by himself at home and with Daphne.

They started to get into the more dangerous spells. Harry finally revealed that he could cast a stunning spell while Malfoy tried to cast _Rictusempra_. Both spells missed their targets. But it appeared that Malfoy had had enough, because with a look of frustration and a hint of anger, he cast his next spell.

"Serpensortia," he called out. A medium sized green snake shot out of the tip of the wand. He looked around and started to hiss. Harry could understand it, but he made sure to keep his mouth closed so people didn't start to believe that he was the heir of Slytherin.

$ _Stupid humans, thinking he could just summon me. But I am hungry… yes, very hungry. And here's a large amount of prey. Which one looks good… how about that one with the black hair? _$

Harry looked to see who the snake was eyeing up to eat and saw that it was a second year Hufflepuff. Harry couldn't remember his name, but he did realize that he would have to do something to stop the snake from harming anyone else. But Harry didn't know what he could do to help.

Percy Potter stepped up from where he was, just on the opposite side of the platform.

$ _Stop, I command you as the Boy-Who-Lived! _$ He hissed out. Harry almost tried to back him up until he realized that his brother had just revealed his ability as a Parselmouth. Although he could understand what his brother had said, no one else could.

In fact, if Harry didn't know better he would say that Percy just encouraged the snake. It just sped up its attack. The snake reared up, baring its fangs to attack.

"Stupefy."

A jet of red light shot out of the potion master's wand and hit the angry serpent, knocking it to the side as well as knocking it out. All the eyes in the hall were focused of Percy, and for the first time he actually looked like he didn't want the attention. A look of horror showed up on his face. To everyone else, it looked like that was because he was horrified at the fact that he basically revealed to the school that he was a Parselmouth. Harry, on the other hand knew the real reason. It was because Percy hadn't been aware that he had that trait.

"What are you playing at?" the Hufflepuff that the snake had almost attacked yelled at Percy before running out of the hall. His group of friends picked up their stuff and ran after him. Percy, Ray and Gabriel soon followed.

"Dismissed," Harry heard Professor Lockhart say faintly, but nobody really paid attention to him. They were all discussing what had just happened. Harry, Ron and Hermione joined the flow leaving the great hall. They were silent. The three friends travelled to the Room of Requirement.

When they were finally comfortable and felt like they wouldn't be over heard was when Harry spoke out.

"The entire school's going to think that he's the heir." He stated. Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"That will remove any suspicion that anyone had on you, Harry," Ron told him. Harry was startled.

"Unless they remember that Harry and Percy are brothers," Hermione said. Harry didn't seem to hear her though.

"What? I wasn't aware that anyone suspected me as the heir of Slytherin. The funny thing is that they're right, but I'm not the one that's attacking students. Who thought it was me?" He asked Ron.

"I heard Malfoy spreading some rumours after the Quidditch practice to try and turn some people against you." Harry closed his eyes. Although it was the middle of the day, he felt sort of tired and wanted to go have a nap.

"And Harry," Hermione added after he told them that and got up to go. "How's Callidus?" Harry was taken aback; he didn't expect his friends to care about the snake that they knew next to nothing about.

"He's okay ... as well as you can be while petrified," Harry quickly answered before fleeing the room.

**And that's chapter ten of this story! It seems like it's just yesterday that I started! So anyway, I have a question for the readers.**

**What pairing would you prefer; Harry/Ginny or Harry/Daphne? As you can see, I tried to set it up so it could go either way. At the time I started to write this I was a huge Harry/Ginny fan, but that has faded a bit and now I prefer Harry/Daphne. The only problem is that I don't think I could write a good Daphne (how am I doing so far?). So what do you guys want?**

**I'm going to put a poll on my profile, so head over there to vote! And don't forget to review.**


	12. Christmas

**Here's another update, and it is my longest chapter ever!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my Beta, Teufel1987.  
**

Twin Trios

Chapter Eleven

Since the duelling club, everybody was now a firm believer that Percy Potter was the one that was attacking all the Muggleborns. Of course, you could tell that there were those, like Malfoy, who didn't think that the Gryffindor was actually the heir but liked making fun of him in front of everybody. Saying things like "Make way for the heir of Slytherin," or "Who are you gonna attack next, oh great Lord Slytherin," were two examples. Both were said with no small amount of sarcasm.

Of course, if anyone had really thought of it, they would have realised that Percy's mother was Muggleborn, so why would he attack Muggleborns? But in their fear, nobody realised that.

James Potter had been spotted storming up to Hogwarts the day after the duelling club. Percy hadn't shown up that day for lunch, and though he showed up for dinner, he looked angry and disgusted. Harry couldn't help but feel slight pity for his twin. He knew how much his father _loved_ people who could talk to snakes, even if they were family. The rumour had circulated shortly throughout the school been that his father had threatened to disown Percy if he ever used that gift again.

Both Harry and Daphne were pleased with how their little meetings affected their skills at the duelling club. Daphne had won her duel easily though that didn't say much since she had an easily opponent while Harry had certainly held his own against someone a little more competent, at least until the snake bit.

"How about this spell?" Harry asked Daphne during their first meeting after the duelling club, looking up from a book that he had taken out of the library. "The incantation is Reducto. It can be used to damage solid objects" He looked at her and grinned. Daphne nodded in response. Harry had talked to some house elves, and arranged to have chairs and cushions for the spells that weren't safe to practice on each other.

He went over and aimed his wand.

"Reducto," he called out softly. A little flash and a quiet bang erupted from his wand, but the chair that he was trying to hurt stayed the same. He tried again and got the same result. After ten more tries, he stopped trying and looked over to Daphne. She had a little smirk on her face, and her chair was lying in pieces.

"Need a little help?" She asked him with her eyebrows raised in a mocking way. Harry glared at her and went back to trying to mimic her success. After another ten tries, he had had enough and swallowed down his pride enough to request her aid. It was very rare that they had to help each other. Normally they studied together in case one of them got hurt or to practise their duelling skills. Actually, Harry just wanted to spend time with her so he could speak to her, which he now could. She walked over to him slowly.

"You need to make sure your spin on your wand is quick, yes like that, but you're going to wrong way Harry," She noticed. Harry looked back at the book to find out that she was right. He had been going in a clockwise direction while the book said counter-clockwise. He corrected his mistake, and soon enough his chair was similar to Daphne's.

"So how about we try to learn _Reparo_ now?" Daphne suggested. "If we know how to ruin things, it'd be a good idea to know how to repair them too." Harry agreed with her logic, so they set upon learning _Reparo_.

After thirty minutes of attempting the spell, they both could get it around half the time they tried to cast it.

"We'll have to keep working on that one," Harry stated. Daphne nodded.

"I think we're done for today," she said. Harry agreed with her, since they had been working for nearly an hour. She picked up her bag and Harry picked up the books that they had been working from and they ended their meeting.

!#$%^&*

Harry was sitting in the common room with Ron and Hermione. Ron was doing some of the homework that professor Flitwick had given them while Hermione had her nose in the book on Transfiguration that Harry had brought back from the Chamber. He had told Hermione that she had better read the book, since he had spent a lot of energy translating it for her. And it was only one book. Harry was also reading a book on some duelling magic to practice with Daphne.

"Hey listen to this," Hermione called out. "Did who know that according to Salazar Slytherin, the most important thing when you're doing transfiguration is to remember each detail of object you're trying to transfigure, and then imagine each thing moulding together?" She looked at them, expecting an answer. Ron nodded absentmindedly while Harry murmured "Interesting. " She huffed in annoyance and went back to reading her book. A few minutes of silence passed before Harry spoke again.

"So what are you two doing for the holidays?" Hermione looked up once again, while Ron scribbled another sentence down before joining the conversation.

"I'm going home," she told them. "Mum and dad want us to go skiing again. I think I may be able to convince them to just stay at home though," She added with a shiver.

"I'm going to stay at Hogwarts," Ron mumbled. "I overheard from Fred that my parents are going to Romania like they were supposed to have last year. Unfortunately that means that all the Gryffindor Weasleys are staying at Hogwarts too. Didn't bother to let me know that they were going away though, did they? After all, they are even bringing Ginny along with them!" Ron said bitterly. Hermione suddenly perked up let she remembered something.

"Guess who else isn't going home?" She asked, half gleeful and half apprehensive. When she got questioning looks from both the boys, she continued. "Gabriel."

Harry was startled, as Hermione had told them before that her parents and Gabriel had a good relationship.

"How do you know that?" Ron asked.

"Her name wasn't on the list outside Professor McGonagall's office. That's where the Gryffindors sign up." Hermione explained.

"So do you know why she isn't?" He asked his friend. Hermione shrugged.

"I have no clue. They haven't had a fight about anything that I've heard of. Of course, it's not like I talk to her on a daily basis, so I wouldn't know if they had. But don't you find that slightly suspicious? It's almost like she's up to something, and I bet you that both of your twins are doing it with her." Ron nodded.

"I don't even want to know what they're doing," he mumbled. "We already have enough troubles with the chamber and such." Harry and Hermione nonverbally agreed with him.

"What about you Harry?" Hermione inquired.

"I'm staying here," was the answer she got. Harry had never even considered going home and spending extra time with his loving father. He then frowned. "If… if Gabriel is staying at Hogwarts over Christmas… and Ray is too… then do you think Percy is also?"

Ron and Hermione didn't answer. Much to his dismay, the next time Harry was outside the deputy headmistress's office, his brother's name was not there on the list of students going home.

!#$%^&*

"_Stupefy, Stupefy, Expelliarmus,_" Harry called out while attempting to hit the dummies that he was practising on. Harry was in the chamber, practising his duelling in the duelling room for the first time. He had it on the easy difficulty, and he was glad. His ancestor must've been some dueller if this was _easy_.

He had all of the environmental settings off, deciding to just flip on the wands and the easy switches. Once he was able to beat the easy difficulty easily, he would probably try to notch it up a bit.

One of Harry's spells hit a dummy and his mark on the scoreboard went up. The scoreboard had appeared after Harry had hit his first dummy, at the end of the platform with the number one. Only after defeating another two dummies had Harry finally figured out what it was. His current score was sixteen.

One of the dummies that he had missed in his spell chain raised its wand and shot out a jet of scarlet light. Harry dodged, but only just. He had started to tire after his tenth hit, though it was probably better then it would've been if he hadn't been running for a few months. He retaliated with a stunning spell, which found its mark.

The score went up by another point. Harry briefly wondered if there was a limit on how many dummies he would be allowed to hit before the programme shut down. He guessed that it would never happen, but you never know. Another three dummies had appeared and were coming at him. They each shot a spell at the same time. Harry ducked, but could still feel the wind from the spells above his head. He tried to straighten up to retaliate, but before he could he was hit with a spell from behind, knocking him onto the floor.

When Harry came to he was laying on his back, gazing at the ceiling of the Chamber of Secrets. The dummies that he had been duelling with had disappeared back to where ever they come from, but his score was still up. Pulling himself to a sitting position, Harry looked at his score.

Seventeen wasn't bad for his first time, he guessed. Below his score, however, was the high score. Feeling slightly inferior to the person who managed to get two hundred and eleven on the level that he couldn't even get twenty, Harry got up and started to leave the room after looking at his petrified familiar for the last time until his next visit. Looking at his watch, he had been down there for an hour. He cheered up when he realised that he still had half an hour left.

Harry walked into the library and headed over to section that told the life of the great founder.

_Last week, we changed our minds about sorting the students next year. The students were getting into too many fights in the dormitories because of different opinions, so we officially split the students into four groups. I picked mine after observing the students in my class. Some were those who excelled in my class, the others I picked because they a sharp look in their eye. Godric also took most of the ones that excelled in his class (those students were also well known to rush into attacks during duelling practice, like himself), while Helga mostly got the people that were average or slightly above average in nearly every class, since she valued hard work. Rowena got the ones that were very good at a few subjects, particularly at the theory work._

_Already I can sense a conflict between Godric's students and my students. I fear it is because of the belief that dark magic is evil and light magic is good. These fools don't understand that there is no good and evil magic, but those too weak to achieve greatness._

Harry flipped to another page until he found an entry that signalled the start of the second school year of Hogwarts.

_Tonight the fifteen new students that we had found were sorted, not by us, but by the enchanted hat that Rowena created with Helga. It can go into a student's mind and read their personality, so that it may choose which out of the four of us the student is most compatible with. There was only one mistake, where it called out Slytherdor for a student, but other than that it worked smoothly._

_Among one of the new Slytherins, is one birthed by non-magic users called Wendel White. I found him just as his parents were about to gather the villagers to burn him for the same reason that they did to my parents. I knocked his parents out, but unfortunately in my anger I had put too much power into my curse. They flew up into the air and hit their own house, snapping their necks. The boy was in too much shock to be angry at me afterwards, but what about now?_

Harry turned the page to the next entry and started to read again.

_Mr. White is a quiet boy. He's studies quietly in the class and listen to instructions easily. But there's the look in his eyes, one that show that if he put his mind to it, he could be quite a cunning fellow. Perhaps pretending to be quiet and observant is his unique style of cunning that I haven't seen before._

_In other news, a fight broke out today between Godric's students and my own. I scolded them for not controlling their anger better than that, and then proceeded to inquire as to what the petty fight had been about. Apparently, some of the Gryffindors, or "Gryffindorks" as some of my students call them, had insulted me and the subject I taught. I am not as gullible as I let them believe, though I do not doubt that there was some truth in their lies._

_I will talk to Godric about it tomorrow._

Harry turned another page. Quickly glancing at his watch, he saw that he only had another ten minutes before he had to go up. Deciding to read another page or two, Harry looked back at his book. He was dismayed to see that Slytherin's writing was nearly scribbles, but Harry was still able to make out most of the text.

_How dare he? That no good… I called him my friend! I talked to… he laughed… he was encouraging it himself… made fun of me and my subject… he'll pay._

Harry was a bit confused about that entry. His ancestor was probably talking about Gryffindor, and the incident that had occurred the other day? Harry was about to turn the page when something happened.

Harry heard a crashing noise, causing him to look up. He was just quick enough to look up and see the back of someone's shoe disappearing into the basilisk chamber. He dropped the book without a thought, took out his wand and gave chase. He entered the chamber and looked around.

It was empty. Slowing down to a cautious walk, Harry looked around carefully. Almost everything was the same, except for some water that was spread out a bit forming a pool. He almost relaxed until he felt a spell that he didn't recognize miss his head by inches. The purple spell hit the wall in front him, causing a bit of the stone to break off.

Harry whirled around, wand raised to attack the person. But he saw nothing. 'Probably a disillusionment charm,' though Harry. His theory was pretty much confirmed when another spell came flying from his side from seemingly nowhere. He dodged it, but was not expecting the second one that followed. It hit him right in the stomach. Harry went flying and lost a grip on his wand. He faintly heard it clatter away.

He also heard a person mocking him. Whoever his attacker was, he was just whistling like he was on a nice stroll during the afternoon. Harry felt a surge of anger and felt around for his wand. It was closer than he had thought. He snatched it up and shouted viciously.

"Expelliarmus!"

The red light erupted from his wand. A crunch let Harry know that it had made contact, and the sound of a wand dropping onto the floor a few feet to the left of him made it all that more satisfactory. He bent down to pick it up, but before he could it was summoned from the attacker.

'Wandless magic!' thought Harry. He was worried now. He had found that wandless magic had been easier when he was little than now, and if this person could do it…

'No Harry,' he thought while giving himself a mental shake to tell him to snap out of it. He probably just has a spare wand. He wasn't given any more time for thought as the attacker was back on the offence. Harry was able to dodge both his spells this time and even managed to cast the stunning spell. It didn't make contact with anything until it reached the wall, which it hit.

The sound of running footsteps alerted Harry. They were heading towards the exit. He attempted to stun the person but missed. The footsteps started to fade. Realizing that he could lose whomever it was attacking the students if he didn't give chase, Harry ran after him. He entered the library just in time to see a mane of red hair disappear around the corner. The same colour that he was fascinated by during his runs in the Room of Requirement.

This made Harry freeze in disbelief. The attacker, who Harry now knew to be Ginny, didn't stop. Her footsteps continued and less than thirty seconds later Harry was alone in the chamber once again.

'How can Ginny Weasley be the heir of Slytherin?' Harry wondered. 'Her family has been in Gryffindor for generations, except for her brother and herself. Did the hat sense her heritage? Is that why she was put into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor?'But that couldn't be right... Harry was almost certain... no, he was certain from memory that there weren't any Weasleys on the tree in the tree room... but he couldn't deny what he had just seen.

Harry shook his head, still confused about what had just happened. Looking at his watch, he realised that he was now thirty minutes over the time he had told Ron and Hermione he would be down in the Chamber. Still confused about what had just transpired, he left his ancestor's secret Chamber for the day.

!#$%^&*

Harry was down in the common room, waiting for a certain redhead for the morning run. He wasn't sure if how you should treat her now that he knew she was the heir. Should he tell the school? Should he somehow attack her, or get someone else to, and get her expelled when she retaliates? Or what if he told his head of house?

Harry dismissed the last one. Professor Snape had been colder to him recently, and Harry could guess that if he told the potions master, the message would only be relayed onto the headmaster, who Harry didn't trust. That fact also eliminated the first option.

What about the middle choice? Harry didn't really want to attack his friend, even if he was sure she was the heir of Slytherin. Besides, he had to admit it was slightly more fun to run now that he had someone else to do it with (Ron and Hermione still hadn't caught on.)

A little voice was nagging in the back on Harry's mind. _Why wouldn't she be bragging to our house if she was the one? _It asked. _Maybe it's because Ginevra Weasley isn't really the heir._ Harry mentally told it to shut up.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a movement from the staircase. He tensed up when he looked up and saw it to be the same redhead that had been occupying his thoughts so much recently.

"Good morning Harry," she said sadly. Her eyes showed signs that they had been crying while she had bags under her eyes, showing that her roommates hadn't been very hospitable last night. 'At least, that's what she wants me to think,' Harry thought. 'It's probably really because she was out celebrating the success of her recent attack.

And it was true. At dinner after the battle in the Chamber, Harry had found out that a sixth year Ravenclaw had been attacked and was now in the hospital wing.

Harry mumbled a weak hello. The two friends started to walk to the room where they would be exercising. After a few minutes of silence, Harry asked her a question that had been on his mind. "So Ginny, are you going home for Christmas?" he asked her. He was surprised when she nodded her head.

"Yes, I am," she said. "Mum and dad want me to spend quality time with them and my brother, who we're going to visit." She dropped the volume of his voice. "Personally, I think they probably think I'm going dark because of my Slytherin sorting and this is them trying to show me the light."

Both of them rolled their eyes at the typical reaction to someone going into Slytherin. They fell back into a silence before Ginny decided to break it.

"So who do you think is the heir of Slytherin Harry?" she asked him. It took all Harry had not to goggle at her. She had the nerve to ask him who he believed the heir was when they both knew that it was her.

"I… I'm not sure," Harry answered after a while. "It's most likely someone in Slytherin, though you can't discount the other houses." Ginny looked thoughtful.

"I guess it could be someone from another house. Do you think that Percy's the heir of Slytherin?" Ginny asked him. "I mean, he's the only known Parselmouth in the school, so who else could it be?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said as sarcastically as he could. "Maybe someone smart enough to actually hide the fact that they can speak to serpents, not advertise the fact like my brother did." He gave Ginny a little look that she appeared not to have noticed. Abruptly, her face lit up in sudden realisation.

"Harry, if your brother can speak Parseltongue, and it's something that you almost always have to inherit, does that mean that you can talk to snakes too?" Harry's insides froze and he felt himself become conscious of how warm it had become.

"I'm not sure," he told her, trying to sound sincere. "I've never tried to talk to a snake before." What a total lie.

He wasn't sure if Ginny totally bought it. She frowned but didn't press him further.

"So who's older out of the two of you? All the books that my family have bought that have your brother in them don't even mention him have a brother, let alone if he was the younger one or the older one" She asked him. Mildly suspicious of the change of subject, Harry answered.

"I'm older then he is," Harry answered. He was slightly fearful when Ginny's face transformed into one of triumph.

"So if he, the younger one, has the gift, then you must have it." Backed into a corner, Harry was confused.

"Okay fine. I can speak to snakes, happy? Only Ron and Hermione know, and what a good thing too. You see all the bad things people are saying about Percy?" At Ginny's nod, he continued. "If that's what they did to the saviour of the wizarding world, imagine what they would do to me, especially since I'm actually _in _Slytherin, unlike him."

Ginny was silent for a moment then asked another question.

"So does that mean you're the person that's been attacking people?"

"No," Harry said sharply while both admiring and being annoyed at the nerve Ginny had to ask that when he knew she was the heir.

"Do you know where the Chamber of Secrets is?" She also asked him. Harry didn't know what to do. He knew that he had seen a person with red hair that was long and… well pretty, like Ginny's in the Chamber yesterday. So it must've been her. But if it was… why would she be asking all these questions?

"No, I honestly have no idea where it is," Harry said as best as he could without sounding like he was lying. Ginny looked at him, and he could see in her eyes that she believed him.

Ginny looked at him one last time before going into the Room of Requirement. They had arrived at the room a while ago, but hadn't been able to think about the room that they wanted due to the conversation that had been having. Harry quickly followed.

"And Harry," Ginny added. He turned around to face her. "You really need to work on your lying. I could totally tell that you weren't telling the truth about the Parseltongue."

Harry smiled. "Thanks for the tip."

As he ran, Harry couldn't help but smile when he remembered that she hadn't been able to tell when he had been lying about the Chamber.

!#$%^&*

"I think we're ready to duel each other," Harry stated to Daphne. Daphne lazily hummed consent before opening her mouth and speaking.

"I think we should put a limit on the spells we can use," was what came out. Harry was slightly confused.

"But why? If we do real duels, then our opponents and us aren't going to sit down to discuss legal and illegal spells before we start fighting."

"Yes, but we don't want to hurt each other too badly. We taught ourselves how to revive people, but we can't afford to break things. If we do that, we would have to go to see the school nurse… who would ask questions…" Daphne trailed off at this point. One of the things that Harry liked best about Daphne was the fact that she had pretty good arguments. The stupid voice of reason that you knew was right, but you didn't want it to be right.

"Okay," Harry agreed with a sigh. "What spells do you think we should be allowed to use." Daphne already had her answer ready.

"I was thinking we can disarm, stun, and use any charms that won't harm us. Shields are allowed, but no transfiguration. Not that we can really do any harm to each other by transfiguring things since we don't really know enough to use it in comba-" Harry lifted his index finger and rested it on his mouth. Daphne blushed.

"So disarming, stunning and shields plus some charms, as long as it doesn't harm. Correct?" Harry asked her, amused at her rambling. Daphne nodded.

Harry started to walk towards the left side of the room while Daphne went the opposite way. They did a short bow, and then waited for the other person to make a move. They had discussed and had both come to the conclusion that starting a duel with a countdown was a really dumb idea.

Harry ended up making the first move. He quickly slashed his wand towards her chest area while murmuring the incantation 'Stupefy' quietly so Daphne couldn't hear him, not that it would make much difference with the rules that they had made. Daphne took a step to the left and before the spell had even passed her, she cast something in retaliation. Her spell was aimed around Harry's waist, so he also went to the left.

"Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus, stupefy," Harry cast a quick chain, attempting to catch her off guard. It worked - somewhat. Daphne's eyes widened slightly before she narrowed them in concentration. She then proceeded to weave through the three spells. The last one almost hit her, but she managed to dodge it. She shot back some spells.

The duel continued like that for five minutes until things started to heat up. They were now throwing spells at the same time instead of the little turns that they had been doing before. Neither of them could get a hit on the other. All of a sudden, after dodging Harry's most recent attempt to defeat her, Daphne turned her wand onto herself.

To Harry's surprise, all of her hair disappeared. Due to shock, Harry unconsciously relaxed. That was all Daphne needed, not wasting any time, she trained her wand on Harry.

"Stupefy."

Harry tried to dodge the spell but was too slow. The next thing he remembered is a smirking Daphne holding out her hand to help him up. Her smooth, black hair was back.

"How'd you do that?" Harry asked her.

"Glamour charm," was the answer he received. "My mother was very big on how a proper lady should do her hair, so the first thing she taught me to do once I got my own wand was glamour charms on the hair. I thought it might surprise you to see my hair like that… and it did!" Harry rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine. You won that duel. Best two out of three?" he asked with a hopeful expression on his face. Daphne laughed.

!#$%^&*

Much to Harry's dismay, Quidditch practice ran right up until the last day of school before the Christmas holidays. He knew he couldn't afford to miss a lot, if any, so he was forced more and more to put his homework on hold and finish it later then he would've liked to.

Another thing that Harry didn't like was the fact that his brother was staying for the holidays too. Harry wasn't exactly sure why, but he was. Of course, he had talked about it with Ron and Hermione, but it wasn't the same as seeing him when, in Harry's opinion, it should be a brother free time of the school year.

After seeing Hermione off on the train, Harry and Ron headed back to the nearly empty Slytherin dorm. Last year every single Slytherin save Harry had gone home for the holidays. This year, there were a few more studious fifth years this year and they had opted to stay so they could study for O.W.L.s.

"So what do you want to do during the holidays Harry?" Ron asked Harry. Harry thought about it for a moment. He remembered what he had done last year. Since no one in the house had been in the dormitory, he had practiced some more advanced magic then was normal. He had stopped trying to do that though, since he realised there would be plenty of time for the advanced things when he was older.

"I dunno," Harry answered. He came up with something totally not original, but still fun just off the top of his head. "We could have a snowball fight!" Ron's eyes lit up.

"Right now?" Ron asked, surprised. Harry didn't answer, but instead checked to make sure he had his wand. Once he knew he did, he smiled at his friend and nodded. Without any more words, Harry picked up a lump of snow, crushed it in his hands then threw it as hard as he could at his friend. It skinned his jacket, as Ron had noticed what he was doing and attempted to dodge.

An hour later, the two boys were tired, wet and hungry (Ron had complained loudly that Harry had cheated by using his wand). They entered the castle, hoping that Filch wasn't lurking just inside the doors like he sometimes did during the Quidditch season. For once, it seemed like luck was with Harry, since the caretaker was occupied elsewhere. The Slytherins went down to the common room and emerged ten minutes later, now dry.

To Harry, it seemed like lady luck had decided at that moment to abandon them, because just as they walked up the staircase from the dungeons, they spotted Percy, Ray and Gabriel. Harry nudged Ron to look in the Gryffindors direction, which he did. As soon as he had also spotted them, they put their heads down and sped up, attempting to escape a confrontation. It was not to be.

"Hey snake," Percy called out. "How are you and the nest of the snakes doing? After all, there's no shame in losing to such a great house in Quidditch." It took Harry a moment to realize what his brother was talking about. Harry was surprised when his brother hadn't gloated to him earlier than this.

"What great house?" Harry asked, acting confused, "Do you mean those lucky dorfs that beat Slytherin in the season opener? Nah, between you and me, that match was all luck." Percy's eyes narrowed.

"Oh scarhead," he said with a sigh. "Some people, like me, have natural talent at things like Quidditch while some people, like you, have natural talent at backstabbing and betraying. Does the game where you cheated last year ring a bell?" Ron's twin decided that it would be a good time to add something else to that.

"Yeah, you'll never even be close to Percy." Since it was his twin, Ron spoke up.

"Close to Percy in what," he said, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "He'll never be close to the cockiness and stupidity level of him, you're right." All Ray seemed to get from that was 'you're right," but then the rest of the words caught up with him.

"You little snake!" Ray pulled out his wand and shouted "Stupefy!" The red light came out of his wand and headed towards the two Slytherins. Not taking the chance that Ron could actually dodge, Harry pushed Ron out of the wand and drew his wand quickly to retaliate.

"Expelliarmus," he casted the disarming charm three times. The other two Gryffindors had drawn their wands and attempted to stun him. Harry was starting to think that that was the only spell they could cast in combat. It was the only one that he had ever seen them do, anyway.

His disarming charm made contact with the Weasley part of the trio, knocking his wand out of his hand and towards Harry. Harry raised his hand to catch it, but before he could he was forced to sidestep so he wouldn't be hit by one of his brother's spells.

Harry could sense that Ron had drawn his wand and was also starting to fight back, though Harry noticed that the only thing that he could really do was the disarming charm. That's all Harry was using, because he didn't want to get in trouble for fighting with Dumbledore's golden boy.

Harry was finally able to catch Percy with one of the spells. His brother's wand went flying out of his hand, causing Gabriel, the last Gryffindor standing, to glance over to confirm he had been disarmed. Taking advantage of her moment of weakness, Ron disarmed her.

"What's going on here?" yelled out an angry voice. They turned to see four people who had just walked down the stairs. It was the headmaster, the head of Slytherin house and Harry's parents.

"Professor Dumbledore sir," Percy started to babble. "The two Slytherins over there just came up from the dungeons when my friends and I were walking to dinner. They just started to fire random spells at us. Some of them were probably even green!"

Dumbledore ate it all up, his eyes twinkling the entire time he listened to what many called his favourite student. Finally it seemed like even Dumbledore had had enough of the golden boy's rambling and cut him off.

"Percy my dear boy, why don't you go and eat dinner? I'll deal with it straight away." Percy nodded to his hero and left with his friends. Dumbledore turned his gaze onto Harry and Ron. Despite his total lack of respect for the elder wizard, Harry still felt himself intimidated. Perhaps he should give him a little respect … He did defeat a dark lord after all.

"What do you two have to say for yourselves?" He asked them. "Endangering students lives like that…"

Harry sighed and tried to play the respectful card. He knew from experience that trying to tell the headmaster the truth was like talking to a brick wall. "But sir, it was only meant for fun. Making sure the boy who's going to save us from" Harry dropped his voice. "You-Know-Who is in top condition." Of course, the headmaster brought what Percy had told him, but none of what Harry had.

"It pains me to do so, Mr. Potter, but I'm afraid I have no choice other than to give you detention with Professor Snape next Saturday at… I believe Professor Snape is available at eight?"At the professor's nod he continued. "As for you, Mr Weasley, you will be serving with Filch when the term begins," Ron started to open his mouth to argue, but Harry put his hand on his shoulder, warning him not to. Ron didn't say anything, but he was still tense.

"Oh yes. Along with fifty points from Slytherin for attacking students with their back turned." Harry tried not to show it, but that one was new and surprised him. Without another word, the headmaster walked into the door, followed by Snape who had a classic sneer on his face. Harry's father sent him a glare that was supposed to be really vicious, but ended up making him look like a weird sort of Hippogriff.

His mother on the other hand was humming a tune while she walked by, the last one of the four to go. After glancing to make sure that no one in the great hall was watching, she took something out of her pocket and dropped it on the floor. With a wink to her son, she walked into the great hall.

Harry took a couple steps forward, bent down and picked it up. The thing that his mother had dropped him was most likely a book, judging by its size and weight. It was wrapped lightly in brown paper. He slipped it into his pocket and then stood up again. Ron was waiting for him at the door. Harry joined him and they went to eat their first dinner of the holidays.

!#$%^&*

Harry left the common room the Saturday after the fight with his brother at ten to eight to serve his unjust detention with his head of house. He got there without running into anyone and knocked on the door. He smiled slightly as he recalled the pats on the back that the older ones had given him for beating the smug Gryffindor that was his brother. They told him that it was worth the loss of points and they would vouch for him if other Slytherins got angry at him.

"Enter," a curt voice called softly from the interior of the room. Professor Snape was sitting at his desk, probably grading papers if the parchments on his desk were anything to go by. There was no sign that Harry was serving a detention; no cloths that he had heard that people used to clean cauldrons without magic. Harry entered the room and walked to where the head of house sat. "Sit." Harry obeyed.

And then he waited. The clock ticked by silently for five minutes while Professor Snape finished grading his students work. Finally he finished. The Slytherin head of house put away the quill that he had been using to grade and looked up at Harry.

"How are you this evening, Mr. Potter?" He asked. Harry was taken aback and immediately suspicious. He knew that his head of house really didn't care about how he was doing.

"I'm perfectly fine sir," Harry answered calmly. And then silence reigned once more for another few minutes.

"Mr. Potter, do you recall last year when you sold me some basilisk venom?"

Harry stiffened at the reminder. He very well remembered that day where his professor had drugged him with a mild compulsion drought then tried to find out how well he could duel. He had never attempted to sell him any more venom.

"Yes I do. Sir," Harry added as an afterthought. Professor Snape continued on. Harry still wasn't sure where this was going, but he could tell he wasn't going to like it.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, Mr. Potter."

"Yes sir," Harry said after the professor stopped talking. He bit back a snarky comment.

"It was known to be the secret Chamber of Salazar Slytherin, who could talk to snakes. Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir. I believe you are correct."

"A basilisk is a snake, is it not?"

"Yes sir."

"There is supposed to be a monster in the Chamber of Secrets, isn't that right?"

"Excuse me, sir, but why are you telling me all this?"

"Because," Professor Snape started. "The headmaster and I agree that it is very possible that the monster is a snake, and basilisks are a very powerful species of snake. One glance at its eyes can… kill you. The headmaster and I both… agree that seeing it indirectly could possibly petrify the unfortunate victim."

"You got basilisk venom, an extremely rare substance, Mr. Potter," his head of house continued. Harry was pretty sure that he knew where this was going now. "Where. Did. You. Get it?"

"I… uh... found it, sir," was the only thing Harry could think of on the spot. He briefly wondered if the fight with Percy was set up, or perhaps the four adults had stood and watched for an opportunity to give Harry a detention for this interrogation.

Snape raised his eyebrows. "You say you… found it?" He asked him.

"Yeah," Harry tried to sound confident. "I found it the forest near home. Mum has always talked about you and your skills at potion making, so I thought you could use it." He could tell that his attempt at sucking up had worked slightly. He thought he had seen a smile on his professor's lips before he got back in control and did his normal sneer.

"Perhaps that lie would've worked if you hadn't also sold some to the Apothecary. Tell me the truth." He said the last sentence a bit normal then he normally would, startling Harry a bit. The Parselmouth had no clue on what to do.

"I found a lot of the venom, sir," was the best that he could come up with. Much to his dismay, the potions professor's lip curled.

"So where is the rest of it?" he inquired, still using that smooth voice that always seemed like it could cut Hufflepuffs in two.

"I… I sold it all to you and the Apothecary. None left," he knew he was getting by with almost no space, and that was even if he was able to convince Professor Snape that he didn't have any left.

"I see." He gave Harry one last look. He then proceeded to point at the closet. "You are to clean the cauldrons in there. No magic, the supplies are there. You're staying here until they're completed."

Harry got to work, uneasy. He knew that Professor Snape was neither dumb nor gullible. After all, he didn't get to be the head of Slytherin house for no reason. By eleven, he had finished the ten cauldrons that had been set up for his punishment and went back to the Slytherin common room.

!#$%^&*

Later that night saw a man with greasy hair walking up to a statue, cloak bellowing behind him. He muttered whatever sweet that was the password at the current time. The statue leapt aside, and without breaking stride the man walked into the opening. He only stopped at the bottom stairs as they carried him up to the office door. After waiting for half a minute for the statue to get to the top, he continued until he reached the door. Hearing a voice, he opened the door.

"What did you learn?" asked the man with a long white beard inquired.

"Almost nothing we knew. He claimed that he found it one night in the forest near his home," replied the man with greasy hair. "It was a total lie and we both knew it. I couldn't say anymore about it since we didn't have any proof."

"Indeed, we cannot," the other man murmured. Silence fell in the room, both lost in their own thoughts about where Harry Potter had 'found' basilisk venom, and (for one of them) would this mysterious boy interfere with his plans?

Of course, the black haired man, also known as Professor Snape had to wonder why he was unable to do magic for a month afterwards, though he hid it so well that no one noticed. It was then that he remembered an oath that he had sworn not to tell about the basilisk venom with a certain second year Slytherin...

!#$%^&*

"Wake up Harry, wake up," Ron shouted at six in the morning. Harry had just been starting to wake up and was not prepared for a hyper friend to come and shake him awake. Especially on a day that he knew Harry loved to sleep in. "It's Christmas!"

"Okay, I'm up!" Harry replied, trying to shake the ginger off. After managing to pry his friend off, he removed the covers and continued. "Let me get dressed before we go to open the presents." Ron sighed in a dramatic, annoyed way, but nodded.

After getting dressed, Harry looked over to see his friend already ripping into his presents. His and Ron's piles were about the same size. Without any more thought, Harry started to dig into his own gifts.

He got some sweets from Ron, mainly chocolate frogs while Hermione had gotten him a book on Quidditch tactics. Harry was slightly miffed about that. Thought he needed to improve his tactics did she? 'Or maybe she knew you would enjoy it?' A little voice in Harry head said. That froze Harry. He decided that that was the reason he had been given that gift.

He found his present from Ginny next. She had given him a pair on Muggle running shoes. He found a note inside one of the shoes.

To Harry,

I do hope you like the running shoes. I don't know how, but I was able to convince dad to take me shopping for them. Well, actually that part was easy with him and his love just to go out among the Muggles and stare at everything.

It was slightly harder to convince him to buy two pairs, but I told him that it was just a gift for a friend and he didn't pry at more then that.

And then when we got back to the Burrow (this was before we left for Romania) I persuaded him to charm them so they would change the fit different people's feet. When he told why I told him that my feet were still growing and we don't want to have to go out and spend extra money on a new pair of shoes. Don't worry about whether they're legal or not. Dad was the one that wrote the laws in charming Muggle things, so he knows then better than anyone.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year,

Ginny

Harry looked at the light shoes in his hand again. They were a plain white with blue stripes going vertically going down the side. He smiled and hoped that Ginny liked his gift as much as he liked hers.

He went back to his fourth and final present. It was the present that he was pretty sure was a book from his mother. He had decided not to open it before Christmas, and since Christmas was finally here so he had no guilt in opening it.

The present slipped out of the package and Harry saw that he was correct in his assumption. It was a book. Harry picked it up and looked at the title. It was _The Real Chamber of Secrets, _by_ Lily Evans_. Harry turned to Ron and held out the book.

"What does that say?" he asked him. Ron turned and looked at the book, then shook his head.

"I can't read it. It must be Parseltongue Harry, since that's the same writing that I remember seeing in the Chamber library."

Harry nodded slowly. His mother had written a book on the Chamber of Secrets and in Parseltongue for what reason? It wasn't like anyone else would be able to read it, and to publish it she would have to acknowledge the fact that she's the heir of Slytherin… something that he was sure would make his father kick her out of the house.

He opened it and read the introduction.

$ Hello, my name is Lily Evans and I am a seventh year student at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am a Parselmouth, and so are you if you're able to read this. Being a Parselmouth is something that is most common among people who are a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of my school. So you might want to check up on your ancestry before you continue to read this.

Done now? Good. Salazar Slytherin was banished from Hogwarts after a disagreement about dark magic and light magic. Don't let the rumours fool you: Slytherin didn't have anything against Muggleborns, but he did have something against the Muggles. That, though, is not what caused Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff to kick him out.

But before he left, he had constructed a secret Chamber in the castle. It still stands there until this day; I've even been there. I won't tell you where it is. If you're worthy of the secret then you'll be able to figure it out on your own with this clue: It's on the second floor. When you know where the Chamber is, come back to read all I found in the Chamber of Secrets. $

Harry was impressed and shocked at his mother's boldness of writing all this down. He quickly skimmed through her pages and pages of notes about the things she had found in the Chamber. Just as he was about to put it down, a little note from his mother slipped out of the books.

_Harry,_ it read.

_I hope you enjoy the book that I composed at the age of seventeen about my findings. Hopefully with this, you won't waste time discovering the same things but instead finding new things that you can tell me._

_I do not have any idea how the Chamber is being used to attack people or who is doing it. It could be Tom Marvolo Riddle… but I've never met him as far as I know. As long as you and the person who's currently attacking students don't try to control the basilisk at the same time, it should obey both of you… but if there's a conflict, don't take any chances. We come from the squib line, and therefore have just a little less claim to the basilisk, so it may follow the other's orders._

_Love,_

_Mum_

!#$%^&*

Later on Christmas day, Harry and Ron had just had dinner and were heading back to the common room when they found a strange sight.

Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were sulking around the dungeons, looking confused. That was definitely not a strange sight. No, the strange sight was that Draco Malfoy was just as confused.

"You three," Harry called out. "What are you doing back for Christmas? I thought you went home to mummy and daddy," He said the last part in a slightly mocking voice. Not to his surprise, Malfoy's fists clenched.

"My dad," he said with even more arrogance than usual. "Has business to attend to with the Headmaster. We were just coming to make sure everything was nice and clean in the common room." Harry and Ron both looked around at their location in amusement. After half a minute, Ron spoke to them again.

"I knew that Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't be able to find their own arms with they weren't attached, let alone the common room, but you Malfoy should know where it is. We aren't even close to it."

Crabbe stiffened and opened his mouth. Harry shot him a questioning glare. Crabbe almost never opened his mouth to defend himself. He'd rather do it physically.

"What's our password?" he inquired. Harry, almost feeling like something was wrong, deflected the question.

"It hasn't changed from before the break. Malfoy, tell your lackey what the password is."

But before the blond aristocrat could open his mouth to say something, Crabbe did something very un-Crabbe like. "I am not his lackey!" He almost shouted, and then looked regretful. Harry and Ron were both looking at him really strangely. 'Something's not right,' Harry thought. He continued anyway.

"So what's the password again Malfoy?" Harry asked. He had a feeling that the blond wouldn't know, but he had to confirm.

"It's umm… mudblood," he choked while trying to say the word, another thing that was very unlike the group of three. Normally he would say it loud and proud. Ron caught on to what Harry was trying to do and helped him.

"So how've your holidays been Malfoy?" he asked innocently. Harry knew that if the real Malfoy had been asked that he would've snorted and called Ron a filthy blood traitor.

"They've been fine so far," he said in a casual tone that sounded like an attempt at being nice. The arrogance still showed though. Even more weird was that he abruptly changed the subject.

"Potter, I mean Harry," Malfoy never called him by his first name. "Do you know who's the opening the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry answered carefully.

"I'm pretty sure that before the break you were certain it was Percy Potter, weren't you?" The imposter tried to cover what he had said, but Harry was starting to get bored with the game.

"Well, yes, I know it's him but I just wanted your second opinion," Malfoy waited, eagerness showing on not only his face but on Crabbe and Goyle's as well. Harry answered by stuffing his hand in his pocket and taking out his wand. He then proceeded to point it at the three. He saw in his peripheral vision that Ron did the same.

"Who are you?" he asked with narrow eyes. The imposters all froze with panicked looks on their faces. Despite that, they had the nerve to still try and bluff their way through it.

"Come on, Harry. It's me, Draco Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle." Harry raised his eyebrows. He was going to take a guess here, but he knew only one other person whose arrogance could top Draco Malfoy's.

"First of all, Percy," When Harry said that name to Malfoy, the blond flinched. Knowing that his guess was accurate, he continued. "Draco Malfoy says father, not dad. Second of all, he does not call me Harry."

Luckily, they had not reached the common room. They had actually passed the common room during the interrogation. Harry hadn't said anything, so Ron had followed suit. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle all didn't notice (or more likely didn't know) so they had just kept walking.

That was when the Golden trio of Hogwarts did something very Slytherin like when losing a lost battle. They turned around and ran out of there as fast as they could. After they had disappeared from sight, Ron turned to Harry.

"Did they seriously just try to break into our common room?" he asked. Harry, who was still staring at the corner they had disappeared around, nodded. "How did they do that?" Harry shook his head then answered.

"I'm guessing some sort of potion. That would be the easiest thing to do, though the only potion that I can think of that will change someone's appearance like that is Polyjuice, which is an O.W.L potion in theory and N. E.W.T. practically. They probably wouldn't have been able to do that by themselves." The two friends fell into silence until Ron broke it by voicing the question that was on both of their minds.

"So who helped them?"

**And there's chapter eleven of Twin Trios! I hope you enjoyed it. There were a lot of 'fighting' scenes in this chapter. Tell me what you guys thought of them!**

**I was surprised at how many reviews my pairing question got. Right now, Harry/Ginny is winning not only on the poll, but also in tons of reviews (by a lot) so if you want to have it Harry/Daphne you better vote (a lot). A few people have suggested Harry/Ginny/Daphne. Just… no.**

**Also, a huge thanks to Miz636. Without her, the problem that I, like many, had with posting wouldn't have been resolved as quickly.  
**


	13. The Secret Revival

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.**

**Thank you to my Beta, Teufel1987.  
**

Twin Trios

Chapter Twelve

Harry and Ron just hung around for the rest of the holiday. They spent a bit of time in the library attempting to read ahead in the course work and they also enjoyed a few more snowball fights before all the students came back. Although… course work wasn't the only thing they had researched.

Harry had manipulated Professor Lockhart into giving him his signature for the restricted section of the library. In the end, it proved that enduring his egotistic comments wasn't worth it.

"Here it is," Harry said. "Moste Potente Potions." Ron leaned over from where he had been reading some of the history during the Wizarding War with Grindelwald to see the page that Harry had opened up into.

"The Polyjuice Potion is an extremely complex potion that may be used to turn into someone else. It takes a month to make, due to the different ingredients that must be harvested at the different times," he read out loud. "The Polyjuice Potion is not designed for transformations into animals, but trans-sexual transformations are allowed." He looked up at Ron. "So it probably was Percy, Ray and Gabriel who attempted to sneak in…" He trailed off in thought.

After a large moment of silence, Ron spoke up.

"They probably were looking for information on the heir of Slytherin," he suggested. "If everyone's pointing the finger at Percy, then they would probably be desperate to find out something that would allow them to deny it." Harry was silent before continuing.

"None of them are that great at potions. Of course, Gabriel's around average but none of them would be able to make a potion this difficult. They would need outside help Ron," Harry stated. "But who would help them?"

"It could've been Dumbledore," suggested Ron. "He always seems to have a special interest in our twins and what they're up to, so he probably knew what they were attempting to do."

"But he normally likes to watch from the background and have other people do his dirty work, sort of like what he did to 'test' Percy with the Philosopher's Stone." Harry pointed out. "I seriously doubt that he would help Percy, Ray and Gabriel personally. He probably got someone else to help. Someone that is known to be good at potions…" He trailed off.

"Professor Snape?' Ron guessed at what he was hinting at. "You think that our head of house, the very same one that hates anything with the name Potter on it, would help the so called 'Gryffindor trios?'"

"I never said he would want to," Harry argued. "But it seems like he's loyal to the headmaster, so if the Dumbledore ordered him to make sure that they were making the potion correctly, then he would probably do it."

Ron thought about it but conceding the point to Harry. They went back to their respective books that they were reading and read in silence.

After a while, Harry glanced at his watch.

"It's almost time for the feast Ron," he said. "We should get going." Ron slowly nodded his head while reaching to put away his book. By the time he had finished reading the paragraph he had been trying to read Harry had his bag ready to go. Ron scrambled to prepare his too. When he was done they left the library.

Having talked about much of the things they could in the library, they walked in comfortable silence all the way to the great hall. When they arrived they saw that the Gryffindor trio was already at the table with almost the rest of the students that had stayed for the break. Harry and Ron sat down and waited for Hermione and Ginny to arrive.

They weren't kept waiting long. Due to their time in the library they had actually cut it pretty close. Less than five minutes after Harry and Ron sat down, they were able to hear the students coming up the steps. Soon after, the students flooded the hall.

Some students hugged their friends that had either gone home or stayed at Hogwarts. Harry's eyes found who he was pretty sure was the _real_ Draco Malfoy, along with his two goons. As they passed the seats where Harry and Ron sat Harry spoke.

"Hey Malfoy," he called out. "How were your holidays?" Malfoy turned his head and once he saw who was talking narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He thought about it for a moment, but after not being able to find any hidden questions within the question, answered slowly.

"They were fine."

Harry smiled as politely as he could and gave a nod of the head. Malfoy turned and walked quickly away from Harry and Ron.

"What was that about?" Ron asked.

"Just confirming the fact that it wasn't actually him during the holidays," Harry answered. Before Ron could ask another question, though, Harry spotted the same red hair that held him captive during their runs.

"Hermione! Ginny! Over here!" Harry called out over the noisy crowd. They were standing together scanning the table. Ginny's head snapped up at the mention of her name but it appeared that Hermione hadn't heard. Harry and Ginny made eye contact, and then Ginny proceeded to nudge Hermione and point in their direction. When she saw them, she too smiled and they started to walk towards the boys.

"Hey Harry. Hi Ron," Hermione said as soon as she got into hearing range. "How were your holidays?"

"They were fun," Ron answered for them both. "We did a bit of reading, had some snowball fights and got into another fight with Percy, Ray and Gabriel!" Harry personally thought that he said the last one a bit too cheerfully.

"That sounds like- you got into a fight with our twins?" She asked in a high voice. "Why did you do that?"

"It's not like it was our fault, Hermione," Harry interjected. "They were annoying us!"

"They were annoying you, so you guys got into a fight," Hermione stated, clearly not impressed with Harry's reasons.

"They did start it," Ron told her with wide eyes. "But we finished. That's why I've got a detention this Saturday with Filch. Harry already served his with Snape." Hermione winced at that news. Everyone knew, even in the Slytherin house that Snape was not a fun experience.

"Hey," Harry said while attempting to appear to shrug it off as though he hadn't been interrogated by his head of house. "It wasn't that bad. How was your holiday?" Hermione's eyes lit up while Ginny's face darkened.

"They were amazing, Harry!" Hermione started to gush. "We went skiing every day, and my parents and I got up early on Christmas morning to open presents – thanks for the book on defensive magic – and we also stayed up later, playing card games! It was so amazing to have them all to myself without Gabriel there. I haven't had that in forever!" Harry and Ron listened, glad that their friend had had so much fun over the Christmas break.

Harry turned to Ginny. "How was your break?" He regretted the question as soon as it left his mouth, because the previously smiling Ginny started to narrow her eyes.

"The nerve of those ones I call my parents!" She started to rant. "I came home for the holidays and at first, it seemed like everything was fine. My parents were nice to me and everything, so I was relieved that they weren't holding a grudge against me for being in Slytherin. Dad and I even went shopping that one day for shoes." She nodded at Harry, and then continued.

"But then we went to Romania. Charlie asked what house I was in, so I told him Slytherin. He asked me why was I with the snakes, and I told him because they aren't that bad. During this time mum and dad managed to slip away. Afterwards, I realized that their plan must have been to guilt trip me into being a good little Gryffindor. Long story short, Charlie and I got into a fight, which made the rest of the holidays really awkward." Ginny paused once again to take a breath. She then proceeded to add "Thanks for the gift."

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that, and it appeared that Ron and Hermione didn't know what to make of it either.

!#$%^&*

The rest of the term passed by quickly for Harry as January slipped into February and that gave way to March. There were a few more attacks, the most noticeable one being Hermione's twin and a Ravenclaw prefect. Both were found near the library window. After that attack, Hagrid had been arrested and sent to prison, and not too long after that the headmaster had been sacked. Professor McGonagall was filling in for the rest of the term, but no one knew if she would be there next year-if there was a next year.

The teachers now had to take the students from class to class. At the final bell, they would escort each of the students to their common rooms. Students were not allowed out of the common room for any other reason but class and meals. Something that Harry often heard the fifth and seventh year students complain about. Something about the lack of study time.

Harry and Daphne had even stopped their meetings for duelling, though they weren't very easy to get to with all the measurements being taken. Daphne had started to not show up at their appointed time, and the few times that she did show up she had bags under her eyes and wasn't able to focus. Harry beat her easily every time. She wasn't quite as bad in lessons, but she still looked sick if you looked closely.

Harry and Ginny had also agreed to stop their morning runs in the Room of Requirement. By now both of them were able to run for a good distance before needing to stop. Harry was pretty sure that he had more than enough endurance for a fight, even though he hadn't dared to go back into the chamber in fear of being followed.

The future looked bleak for Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

!#$%^&*

One weekend in May, Harry was done all of his homework, but Hermione and Ron weren't. He was absolutely bored now that they weren't allowed out of their common room and had read almost every book that he had in his possession. Except one.

The book that his mother had given him for Christmas was one that he hadn't dared to touch. Part of him was nervous about reading something that his mother had written so long ago, while another part of him wanted to discover all the things in the Chamber himself. However, his mother's point about wasting his time was valid.

With this thought in his head, he got the book out of his trunk and laid it on his bed. He then got onto it himself and shut the curtains.

_The Chamber of Secrets has a place to duel in it. It is where I learned to fight, and would recommend that you try it out sometime. There are many different settings that you can fight in. Different types of environments, along with dummies that will fight you either by sword or wand. I have no clue how my ancestor managed to create this, but it is something that many people would probably die to be able to train with. Let me explain it to you._

_The first set of switches control the environment of the room. You can have it raining down on you while duelling, or even snowing. The other options are cold, hot, windy and sandy. You can only combine certain switches. For instance, you can put the settings on hot, windy and sandy to have all three things. However, you cannot make it hot and snowing at the same time. When you try to do that, the switch that you put down first automatically goes back up. I recommend that you practice in all the different environments. After all, you don't often get to choose where you fight._

_The second set of switches control the difficulty level. That pretty much speaks for itself. But just in case you're an idiot and can't figure them out, "Easy" is the easiest one and "hard" is the most difficult setting. When you turn this switch on, the dummies will start coming out of the floor, ready to start the duel as they were enchanted to do according to the difficulty settings. With the final set of switches, one can choose the weapon to be used in the duel. You can either fight with your wand, which is the more common practice in this age, or you can fight using a sword. If you want to fight with a sword, you will need to bring a weapon of your own with you; the Chamber does not supply one. Here, the dummies will come out one at a time until you get to hard. Then they will come out multiple at a time._

Harry turned the page.

_In the Chamber, there is the personal library of Salazar Slytherin containing a myriad of books. There is even a complete set of books written in Slytherin's own hand. Journals mainly, chronicling his life. –They give quite an insight into the real life of Salazar Slytherin, which is markedly different from the tripe historians made up to make him look bad and Gryffindor like a saint. That's all I'm going to say about them here. It would be much better if you just went and read them yourself._

_However, there are also many books on different types of magic there. Some of them are probably the only copy left in existence. _

!#$%^&*

Professor McGonagall found the two students she was looking for in the Gryffindor common room.

"You two, come with me," She ordered. Percy and Ray looked up from their game of chess. They both knew that they should be studying, but quite frankly didn't feel like it.

"We didn't do it," Ray immediately said. Professor McGonagall just raised one of her eyebrows, but didn't respond. Instead she turned around and headed out of the common room. The two boys stayed where they were though, and didn't move until she had turned around again at looked at them.

After getting her wand out for protection, professor McGonagall started to lead them upstairs, though it was unclear to where they were going. After walking a few moments in silence, Percy broke the silence.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Professor," finished the Gryffindor head of house. She then waited for the second year student to re-ask his question.

"Where are we going, Professor," he asked after a few moments.

"We are going to the hospital wing, Mr. Potter," she answered. Percy and Ray exchanged a look, but asked no more questions. The tone in their teacher's voice didn't leave any room for inquiry. They walked more in silence until they reached the hospital wing.

Professor McGonagall knocked rapidly three times, before waiting a second and knocking another five times. After the fifth knock, the door was opened and Madam Pomfrey appeared with her wand out. After regarding the two students and the headmistress, she stepped back to let them in. Once they got through she quickly locked the door.

"I see that you retrieved them. Good. Now we may proceed… though I don't know why Professor Dumbledore wants these two to know and not the rest of the school… doesn't he know that…" the witch kept mumbling while she led them to a place where the curtains where closed. She opened them up and the three people walked in.

There was already a person inside. Upon seeing one of the Potter twins enter, he sneered immediately, but refrained from making a snide comment. The former headmaster had already warned him against doing it in the presence of other people at this moment.

Then Percy noticed another person who was there. It was Gabriel, still looking as lifeless as a plastic doll with amazing realism.

Madam Pomfrey closed the curtain and hurried in after them. Everybody was silent for a bit, before the man broke the silence.

"Do you know why you are here, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley?" the potions master asked slowly. The two Gryffindor boys shook their heads to signal no. "You are here because Professor Dumbledore has requested that you be here." Professor Snape took a vial from the night table and showed it to them.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked them. Again, both of them shook their heads. "Of course you don't," he sneered. "This is the potion that will revive your petrified classmates. Just five drops of it will make them mobile again."

"Are you going to give it to Gabriel?" Ray asked. Professor Snape sneered once again.

"Against my better wishes, yes I will be." He told them. "However, the rest of the school doesn't think that the potion is ready to be given yet, so she will not be able to go to classes. You will be allowed to visit her, however. She will be allowed to give you advice on your school work. I suggest you do ask her questions, because the headmaster will be very displeased if you failed you potions class…" Professor Snape turned around and uncorked the vial. He then carefully poured five drops into the petrified girl's mouth.

"It is done," he said as he turned back around to face the group. It will take her around half an hour to come to normal, but after that she will be fully functioning. Thus there is no more reason for me to stay here. I have better and more important things to deal with. So if you will excuse me..."

With that, he left the enclosed area, sneering all the way. The Hogwarts matron shortly followed him. Percy and Ray stared at Gabriel for a moment longer before they looked at Professor McGonagall again. She started to walk out of the area. After making sure the two boys where following her, she got out her wand and unlocked the door to the corridor. Once they were through, she turned to them once again.

"Just in case you two need to get into the Hospital Wing desperately, you must simply hold your wand up to the handle and say 'For Hogwarts.' I trust that you two won't abuse this privileged that has been given to you by Professor Dumbledore, even if I don't agree with it." She gave them a stern look, and they couldn't help but nod, signalling that they agreed to the conditions.

The rest of the trip back to the tower was made in silence.

!#$%^&*

Harry was currently bored in Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Professor Lockhart was currently doing another one of his acting classes, using Percy as a puppet. Not for the first time, Harry was glad that the public thought that Percy was the Boy-Who-Lived. With that thought, he looked over at his friends.

He wasn't surprised at what he saw. Hermione was sitting up at attention, hanging on to the professor's rambling, while Ron looked like he was half asleep. He looked even further and saw that Daphne actually _was_ asleep. After looking at her for another few seconds, he looked back towards the front.

"And after that," Lockhart was saying. "I said 'You will never harm another person,' and destroyed him like this," he made an elaborate gesture with his wand that Harry doubted was even a spell. Just then, the bell rang. Everybody got up and headed towards the back of the class. Lockhart quickly released Percy and flattened his robes before patting his hair. After that he went to the door and opened it.

Everybody flooded out. They knew by past experiences that Professor Lockhart wasn't picky about leading the students to their next class. In fact, he would probably be rather at the back then at the front. Harry saw Percy and Ray whispering quietly to each other. His curiosity spiked, he led Ron and Hermione over to a position where they could hear a bit of it.

"I think we should go now!" Percy whispered to Ray. "There probably won't be a better time until next Defence class, which will be in a week."

"You sure we could get all the way to the hospital wing without being caught?" Ray whispered back. "It's not getting away that I think the problem is. What if someone catches us?"

Percy made a shrugging motion and waited a moment before answering.

"Who do you think you are? Gabriel? The way that you're talking about getting caught, why do we even need to sneak into to visit her? You can just replace her!" Hearing enough and not wanting to get caught, Harry slowed down, almost colliding with a black Gryffindor boy. After the boy and Harry exchanged dirty glares, he turned to Ron and Hermione.

"Did you hear that like I did?" he asked them. Hermione nodded.

"It sounded like they were talking about sneaking off to visit my twin in the hospital wing. But she's petrified… why would they talk about her like she isn't?" Ron nodded, signalling that that's what he had heard and thought too.

"I'll convince Lockhart that I'm sick and need to go to the hospital wing, okay? I'll tell you what I learn after."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Ron asked him. "What if you run into… you know?" Harry dropped his voice even lower.

"I'll be fine. You know I can… you know." He didn't say exactly what he could do because he was certain that it was Draco Malfoy he had seen lurking out of the corner of his eye. He turned and looked at the Malfoy heir and gave him a smile. Malfoy quickly turned around and pretended he hadn't been eavesdropping.

Without waiting for his friends to approve his plan any further, he went over to the professor.

"Professor Lockhart, I don't feel well," he told him while trying to put on a sick face. He wasn't sure if his performance would be enough to convince the gullible professor, but it appeared to be enough.

"Off to the hospital wing you go, then," he instructed. "I don't want you to throw up on me." Trying to conceal his smile, Harry put his head down and started to leave the group. He hoped that Percy and Ray had already left, so he wouldn't be in the hospital wing when they came in.

He got to the hospital wing in good time, and then tried to open the door. Unfortunately for him, it was locked. After trying a few of the unlocking charms that he knew, the door still wouldn't yield. Not knowing what to do, Harry just stood there, trying to think of what to do.

Then he heard two boys, that Harry could guess were his brother and Ray. Honestly, they were so loud that if Slytherin's Heir actually wanted to attack them, it would be fairly easy. Harry ran up the corridor and quickly slipped into an unlocked empty classroom, shutting the door, leaving just a small crack open. He watched his twin and his friend go by and up to the hospital wing door. He heard his brother's voice say, 'For Hogwarts,' with his back to Harry and blocking the door. A soft _click _was heard as the door unlocked.

"Don't forget to shut the door," he heard Ray remind Percy. Percy didn't say anything, but Harry could almost picture the look that he was giving his friend. Harry heard another click, as they closed the door behind them.

Harry waited again for a few minutes before coming out of his hiding spot. He went up to the door and repeated what he had heard Percy say. Nothing happened.

Harry was starting to get frustrated. He took out his wand and was tempted to try and blast the door off its hinges, but quickly dismissed the thought. Doing that would demolish any attempts of stealth that he could make.

He decided to try and do the password again.

"For Hogwarts," he whispered. He almost yelled with joy when the door clicked open. It was then when he noticed that his wand was near the handle. 'That must've been the second requirement,' he thought. Harry cautiously walked in.

He was greeted by an empty room. The beds were neatly lined up; along with the section right next to Madam Pomfrey's quarters that was marked off, containing the petrified forms of the unfortunate yet still very lucky victims of the attacks perpetrated by the person masquerading as the Heir of Slytherin. Harry couldn't see Percy or Ray. Thinking they were in one of the blocked off sections, he stealthily walked forward.

Harry was right. Once he got close enough, he could hear voices: Two male and one female. He stood next to the curtain and listened.

"And that's why you've been cured," he heard Percy saying. There was nothing for a moment, then he heard Gabriel's voice (at least, that's who he thought it was).

"So basically Professor Dumbledore didn't think that you would be able to solve the mystery without me, so he revived me earlier than the rest without telling anyone?"

"He doesn't think that we couldn't solve it without you! He just thought that… it might be quicker with you." Ray protested. "But other than that, you're pretty much right."

Silence descended on the trio. It wasn't a comfortable silence, for there was a sort of tension in the air. You could just tell that there was a certain question that they wanted to ask but were too afraid of the answer. It ended up being Percy who broke it.

"So… what was the last thing that you saw, before being, you know… petrified?" he asked. Gabriel answered him after a few moments.

"I was looking out of the library window at the grounds when it happened. At least, that's the last place I remember. The last actual thing that I remember happening was looking into the reflection of a big pair of yellow eyes."

"So what creature is so powerful that its mere reflection can petrify people?" Ray asked in wonder. But Gabriel had an answer for that too.

"That's the reason that I was in the library in the first place. You said you've been able to hear voices in the walls right before attacks, right Percy?" Harry figured that Percy must've nodded his head because Hermione's twin continued talking.

"Well, since you can talk to snakes, I have a feeling that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets just _has_ to be a snake. So I went to look up dangerous snakes. Have you two ever heard of a basilisk?"

They both answered at the same time.

"No."

"Well, the basilisk is a powerful snake. Its hide is pretty much impossible to penetrate using magic. Just one look into its eyes will kill you, and they basically never stop growing."

Before they could say anymore, however, McGonagall's voice came over the school.

"All classes have been cancelled. All students are to head to their common rooms immediately pending an announcement and teachers, report to the second floor corridor in ten minutes. I repeat, classes have been cancelled for the day, students are to be in their common rooms and all teachers are to report to the second floor in ten minutes."

Just then, Harry heard a hustling outside the door of the hospital wing. Desperately looking for a place to hide, Harry dove under the first bed he found. He had just settled down under the bed when the door opened and in came Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. He noted that Percy, Ray and Gabriel had fallen silent as well.

Harry then watched in horror as he saw who had been petrified. The fascinating hair of Ginny Weasley was lifeless, along with the rest of her frozen body. In the mean time, Madam Pomfrey had hurried out of her office.

"Put her right on that bed! Yes, right there," she instructed. She then crouched over Ginny again, as though she was trying to figure out if there was a way she could fix her. After a few moments though, she straightened up and announced that Ginny was petrified like the rest of them.

Harry's mind raced with the revelation. He had seen Ginny's hair in the Chamber when he had been down there… so why would she attack herself? Unless Ginny wasn't actually the heir and someone had managed to frame her? But why would the real heir do that?

Meanwhile the professors continued to talk.

"She was found outside the girl's bathroom on the second floor," Professor McGonagall continued. "And even worse, there was a message." The transfiguration teacher was trembling, with anger or fear, Harry wasn't sure of. He could almost picture how white her face was. Her Scottish accent was getting so thick it was getting harder and harder to actually understand what she was saying.

"What was the message?" inquired Madam Pomfrey urgently.

"'Her skeleton shall lie in the Chamber forever,'" whispered Professor McGonagall.

"Who's been taken down there?" the Hogwarts patron asked. Professor Snape, who had been quiet through the entire endeavour, stepped up to answer the question.

"It's one of my Slytherins," he answered. Although it was barely detectable, Harry could detect a small amount of anger in Snape's voice. Or maybe he just imagined it. "A second year girl by the name of Daphne Greengrass."

**And there's the end of Chapter Twelve! I know that it was a bit short, but it's really just a setup chapter for the Chamber. On the side, the poll for the pairing will be closing at the end of the second year. Currently Ginny is still winning, but Daphne has made a huge comeback to make it really close. That said, even if Daphne just wins on the poll, a number of reviewers have said Ginny.**

**Don't forget to review!**


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